The Art Of Drowning (Pitt Poetry Series) - Softcover

"A wonderful, thoughtful, sly, and moving collection." -San Francisco Chronicle

"Deft observation, droll wit, and outrageous assertions are whizzing past." -Reagan Upshaw, Bloomsbury Review

"A brilliant collection." -The Washington Post

Praise for Billy Collins

"I have never before felt possessive about a poet, but I am fiercely glad that Billy Collins is ours. . . . Rueful, playful, warm-voiced, easy to love." -Annie Proulx

"No freshly encountered poet since Frank O'Hara has given me, as a common reader, more unalloyed pleasure." -Warner Berthoff, Boston Book Review

"Billy Collins is an American original-a metaphysical poet with a funny bone and a sly, questioning intelligence. He is an ironist of the void, and his poems-witty, playful, and beautifully turned-bump up against the deepest human mysteries." -Edward Hirsch

Over the past decade, Billy Collins has emerged as the most beloved American poet since Robert Frost, garnering critical acclaim and broad popular appeal. Gerald Stern describes his poetry as "heartbreakingly beautiful." John Updike proclaims his poems "consistently startling, more serious than they seem, they describe all the worlds that are and were and some others besides."

This special, limited edition celebrates Billy Collins's years as U.S. Poet Laureate. The Art of Drowning-one of the books that helped establish and secure his reputation and popularity during the 1990s-is distinctive in its variety of interests and the generous hospitality of its voice. Ranging from an analysis of Keats's handwriting to the art form of the calendar pinup, the subjects of his poems inspire imaginative play. Whether reading him for the first time or the fiftieth, this collector's edition is a must-have for anyone interested in the poet the New York Times calls simply "the real thing."