Increasingly in modern society children are born into the world burdened by parental expectations, which can lead an impressionable child to become an overachiever. As a result, the child may grow into an adult who is never satisfied with his accomplishments, no matter how substantial they are perceived to be by family and peers. The themes of conformity and lost innocence are explored thoughtfully in "POETRY OF MIDLIFE CRISIS." Suddenly, in midlife, the poet discovers that his destiny has been defined by others. The crisis is upon him; it is time to pause, to take stock. Mr. Mayer's provocative poems are evidence of self discovery, of the self freeing itself, of one man's emancipation. Often poignant, certainly wry and playful, Mr. Mayer's collection of verse challenges our assumptions and conventions and, in so doing, the author not only liberates his own soul but lifts the reader's spirits.