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Phil Hall is well known as a writer and supporter of "work poetry." He stands in solidarity with workers, with the little guy, the often faceless many. His poetry can be fierce in their service, but it is sponsored by humane inquiry, not dogma. Amanuensis takes its title from a poem about ghostwriting, and the image plays teasingly over the whole volume. The language of this poetry, often spare and yet astonishingly sensuous, springs from mysterious though not supernatural sources in commonplace experience approached with reverence. Followers of Phil Hall's work will welcome the appearance in Amanuensis of a selection of his terrific workplace drawings.