Joyce Sutphen, former poet laureate of Minnesota, noted that Doug Linder's poems are marked by "transfers of experience" as he "looks for ways to pass his 'sense of place' down to the next generation (and the next)." Linder admits in Shooting Hoops in the Dark, "We want them to love what we love." Sutphen adds, "Happily for us" his collection "brings us a long way there." Linder's poems suggest that life is what you see and feel; that looking for hidden meanings is a waste of time. This oftentimes playful collection is all about seeing and feeling. It's an appreciation of the speck of space and time that has been the poet's amusement, sorrow, joy, and abiding mystery. The poems in Shooting Hoops in the Dark are divided into three parts. Part One includes remembrances of a free-range childhood in Minnesota. Part Two is filled with clever, dialogue-filled takes on marriage, parenthood, the pandemic, and eco-travel. And Part Three is a mix tilted towards witty (and ultimately optimistic) reflections about the relentless march of years. You might call this collection a shot. A basketball heaved high towards an orange hoop in a starry sky.
