Praise for Kennedy's The Lords of Misrule:"New England's master of light verse returns to familiarly sardonic territory in this, his seventh collection, which mixes dry wit and restrained verse-narrative with poems on surprisingly serious subjects... Kennedy's work remains cultured, likable, and witty." -- Publisher's Weekly"[Kennedy] can be light and amusing, or tender and touching, or acerbic and cutting... The Lords of Misrule demonstrates convincingly his poetic breadth and vigor, and the depth of feeling that his verse can convey. The collection confirms his position as a preeminent voice in American poetry today." -- Chronicles"Some poets... form part of a historically small but robust band whose spirits never seem to flag in their prolonged observation of the human concourse. Such poets, being able to maintain a witty engagement with life in all its forms and in a variety of stances, strike us as perpetually young and remain consistently readable. X. J. Kennedy falls into this company." -- Times Literary Supplement"Kennedy is widely regarded, and occasionally disregarded, as a practitioner of light verse. But he serves his light with a healthy dose of darkness." -- New York Times Book Review"Kennedy's verse is wonderfully successful and a delight to read. His work makes us think: How wonderful rhyme and meter are -- I want to try that too!" -- Jack Foley on station KPFA, San Francisco