A wise philosopher once said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." In Rustin Larson's The Philosopher Savant, life is surely examined-and remarkably imagined-in poems alive with surprising imagery, fresh metaphors, and a deeply empathic voice for important people, places, and things. True to any philosopher (or poet) worth their salt, Larson makes us think and see the world differently-as when describing the cold "Thewind put its lips to the house like Alaska" or a child's fall from a tree "I let go like a sawn branch from an elm tree./I fell and collected the ground with my body." These are poems rich with deft leaps and perfect landings, from a poet whose growing body of work is well worth serious examination. - Christopher Seid, author of Age of Exploration, Winner of the 2015 Blue Light Book Award