Poetic Obituaries: [Louis] Simpson sought the poetry in everyday life,

writing in a simple, unadorned style with specifically American settings. The poet and critic Edward Hirsch called him "the Chekhov of contemporary American poetry."

"It's complicated, being an American," Mr. Simpson wrote in the poem "On the Lawn at the Villa." "Having the money and the bad conscience, both at the same time."

His collection "At the End of the Open Road," for which he won the Pulitzer in 1964, painted a grim picture of the American temperament in the last half of the 20th century in poems like "In the Suburbs":

from The New York Times: Louis Simpson, Poet of Everyday Life, Dies at 89

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