Description
Author: Rod McKuen
Publisher: Cheval Books
Edition: Fourth Printing
Date of Publication: December 1969
Place of Publication: New York, NY
Format: Hardcover with dust jacket
Page Count: 155 pages
Library of Congress Card Number: 70-85625
Condition
Condition: Very Good+
Clean, unmarked pages
Solid binding
Dust jacket shows light age toning and gentle wear consistent with the period
Dust jacket protected in Brodart archival cover
No tears, no stains, no writing
Description
In Someone’s Shadow is one of Rod McKuen’s most introspective and emotionally resonant collections, written at the height of his cultural influence in the late 1960s. These poems explore love, loss, loneliness, longing, and quiet observation—themes that would define McKuen’s voice and bring poetry back into the mainstream for an entire generation.
Unlike his later, more expansive works, this collection is intimate and reflective, often reading like confessional letters or quiet conversations overheard in moments of solitude. McKuen’s language is direct, accessible, and emotionally candid, inviting readers into a space of vulnerability and shared experience.
This book captures McKuen at a pivotal moment—when poetry, music, and spoken-word performance were intersecting with countercultural expression and personal truth.
Collector’s Notes / Why We Love This Book
Published in 1969 during Rod McKuen’s most influential period
An early example of his quieter, inward-looking poetic voice
Appeals to collectors of 20th-century popular and spoken-word poetry
A strong representation of late-1960s literary and design sensibility
We love this book because it reflects a time when poetry was personal, brave, and widely embraced, and McKuen was one of the voices who made that possible.