In "Night Sleeps in Berlin," Ross Tharaud gives to the reader a wide variety of poems related with consummate artistry. Some are stories, others memories or meditative reflections. He is comfortable and skilled in relating them all. Thus the poem "Night Sleeps" is a metaphorical, surreal narrative that leaves its application to reality up to the reader. By contrast, the long, masterful poem "Berlin" combines memories, stories, and reflections on time and history as they relates to individuals. And while "The Unveiling" considers the mysteries of life and mortality as a gravestone is uncovered, "Life Companion" is an affectionate, nonsense description of the poet's cat. The most personal poems in "Night Sleeps in Berlin" poignantly depict grief and memories of a failed marriage--but also love for wife, child and mother. "In Praise of Basmati" extolls the importance of friendship and the comfort it can give us. The overall subject of the book is what it means to be human. The poems frequently shift their perspectives and focal points. "Night Sleeps" weaves the narrator's experiences of the "night" inside him, his life in the city and the country, and his conversation with a river—all into a coherent, moving whole. Similarly, "Berlin" describes life during the covid epidemic, his parents' experiences in World War II, the plight of refugees, which lead to a depiction of how imagination can help us cope with an uncertain future. The poets narratives often take unexpected turns. Most of "Pike Place Market Song" concerns an unidentified older woman facing down an approaching assailant—only at the end do we learn that she is Tharaud's mother and the poem a celebration of her courage. Wit and humor throughout the book and lightens even trials recounted in "Berlin," such as when the poet pauses to observe that James Joyce "has nothing on this." The poem "Crime" is a lengthy comic story based on immediately recognizable common scenes in detective shows and movies. The