"NEW YORK TIMES "BESTSELLER
"America's favorite poet.""--The Wall Street Journal"
From the two-term Poet Laureate of the United States Billy Collins
comes his first compilation of new and selected poems in twelve
years. "Aimless Love" combines more than fifty new poems with
selections from four previous books--"Nine Horses, The Trouble with
Poetry, Ballistics, "and" Horoscopes for the Dead. "Collins's
unmistakable voice, which brings together plain speech with
imaginative surprise, is clearly heard on every page, reminding us
how he has managed to enrich the tapestry of contemporary poetry
and greatly expand its audience. His work is featured in top
literary magazines such as "The New Yorker," "Poetry," and "The
Atlantic," and he sells out reading venues all across the country.
Appearing regularly in "The Best American Poetry" series, his poems
appeal to readers and live audiences far and wide and have been
translated into more than a dozen languages. By turns playful,
ironic, and serious, Collins's poetry captures the nuances of
everyday life while leading the reader into zones of inspired
wonder. In the poet's own words, he hopes that his poems "begin in
Kansas and end in Oz." Touching on the themes of love, loss, joy,
and poetry itself, these poems showcase the best work of this "poet
of plenitude, irony, and Augustan grace" "(The New Yorker)."
"Envoy"
Go, little book,
out of this house and into the world,
carriage made of paper rolling toward town
bearing a single passenger
beyond the reach of this jittery pen
and far from the desk and the nosy gooseneck lamp.
It is time to decamp,
put on a jacket and venture outside,
time to be regarded by other eyes,
bound to be held in foreign hands.
So off you go, infants of the brain,
with a wave and some bits of fatherly advice:
stay out as late as you like,
don't bother to call or write,
and talk to as many strangers as you can.
Praise for "Aimless Love"
" Billy Collins] is able, with precious few words, to make me cry.
Or laugh out loud. He is a remarkable artist. To have such power in
such an abbreviated form is deeply inspiring."--J. J. Abrams, "The
New York Times Book Review"
" "
"His work is poignant, straightforward, usually funny and
imaginative, also nuanced and surprising. It bears repeated reading
and reading aloud."--"The Plain Dealer"
"Collins has earned almost rock-star status. . . . He knows how to
write layered, subtly witty poems that anyone can understand and
appreciate--even those who don't normally like poetry. . . . The
Collins in these pages is distinctive, evocative, and knows how to
make the genre fresh and relevant.""--The Christian Science
Monitor"
"Collins's new poems contain everything you've come to expect from
a Billy Collins poem. They stand solidly on even ground, chiseled
and unbreakable. Their phrasing is elegant, the humor is alive, and
the speaker continues to stroll at his own pace through the
plainness of American life."--"The Daily Beast"
" Collins's] poetry presents simple observations, which create a
shared experience between Collins and his readers, while further
revealing how he takes life's everyday humdrum experiences and
makes them vibrant.""--The Times Leader"
"From the Hardcover edition."
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