| Description |
91 pages ; 21 cm. |
| Series |
Pitt poetry series
|
|
Pitt poetry series.
|
| Note |
Poetry |
| Contents |
American sonnet -- A history of weather -- First reader -- Student of clouds -- Candle hat -- Death of allegory -- Reading myself to sleep -- Norton anthology of English literature -- Hunt -- Forgetfulness -- Questions about angels -- A wonder of the world -- Mappamundi -- First geniuses -- Afterlife -- Dead -- Endangered -- Going out for cigarettes -- Purity -- Cliché -- Field guide -- Putti in the night -- Man in the moon -- Horseman, pass by! -- Memento mori -- Last man on earth -- Come running -- Modern peasant -- Instructions to the artist -- Weighing the dog -- One life to live -- Wires of the night -- Axiom -- Vade mecum -- Not touching -- Night sand -- Love in the Sahara -- Invective -- Life of Riley : a definitive biography -- Jack -- Metamorphosis -- Saturday morning -- Late show -- Pie man -- Wolf -- History teacher -- Pensée -- Discovery of scat -- Dog -- Willies -- On reading in the morning paper that dreams may be only nonsense -- Rip Van Winkle -- English country house -- Nostalgia. |
| Summary |
Billy Collins -- winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship, veteran of a one-hour Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross, and a guest on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion -- arrives at Random House with the poetic equivalent of a Greatest Hits album, seasoned with some wonderful new numbers. Ranging from a lament over "Forgetfulness" -- "Whatever it is you are struggling to remember/it is not poised on the tip of your tongue, /not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen" -- to a love poem that starts with weighing a dog, to a definitive "Life of Riley" ("He never had a job, a family or a sore throat"), Billy Collins' poems often seem modest and homespun, until the reader finds himself suddenly dissolving into laughter or tears. As for his popularity, a recent piece in Publishers Weekly, which ran before his three-book deal with Random House was made public, will perhaps be more convincing than any editor trying to flog a book in a fact sheet could be: "In February alone, three of Collins' collections sold nearly 8000 copies.... Fresh Air/Terry Gross recently rebroadcast an hour-long interview with Collins; the following day Picnic, Lightning briefly hit #59 in Amazon.com's bestseller rankings." Billy Collins is a dynamic and popular reader. He makes between thirty and forty appearances a year. His arrival at a prominent trade publishing house will ensure an even wider audience for his poetry and will capitalize on his increasing popularity. Household name may not be too much to ask for. |
| Subject |
Manners and customs -- Poetry.
|
|
Manners and customs. |
| Genre/Form |
Poetry.
|
| Subject |
American poetry -- 20th century.
|
|
American poetry. |
| Chronological Term |
20th century |
| Genre/Form |
Poetry.
|
| ISBN |
0822956985 alkaline paper |
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9780822956983 alkaline paper |
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0688107311 alkaline paper |
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9780688107314 alkaline paper |
|
0822942119 alkaline paper |
|
9780822942115 alkaline paper |
|
0688107745 alkaline paper |
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9780688107741 alkaline paper |
|
