In Stephen Massimilla’s latest book, The Plague Doctor in His Hull-Shaped Hat, self-recognition is found in the loss, beauty, and suffering that define our common humanity. This collection of poems maps overseas and underworld routes by which personal exploration opens onto universal territory. From Capri to Venice, from New England to the tropics, from Ithaca to the prismatic sea, the poems enact a struggle to salvage psychological, social, cultural and ecological landscapes.