false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg 24405 4 Billy Collins has a knack for making the familiar exotic and the arcane instantly accessible. His 1991 collection, <I>Questions About Angels</I>, is a loving and often amused search for "the infinite / permutations of the alphabet's small and capital letters." This phrase comes from an ode to his first literary experience--and needless to say, Collins is more honest than most of us might be. Though he would later discover "frightening Heathcliff" and "frightened Pip," and even Adam and Eve, fiction for him began with another famous pair: Dick and Jane. Throughout this witty volume, he explores other heroes who have expanded his vistas--including Goya, Kafka, ancient mapmakers, Constable, and more than one lexicographer in hot pursuit of <I>le mot juste</I>: <blockquote> Somewhere in the rolling hills and farm country<br> that lie beyond speech<br> Noah Webster and his assistants are moving<br> across the landscape tracking down a new word.<br> </blockquote> Collins makes you remember your initial delight in metaphor and simile. In "The First Geniuses," for instance, he imagines an era before "the orchestra of history / has had time to warm up," before inventors and artists could quite suss out how to use their gifts: <blockquote> They have yet to discover fire, much less invent the wheel,<br> so they wander a world mostly dark and motionless<br> wondering what to do with their wisdom<br> like young girls wonder what to do with their hair.<br> </blockquote> Though his world is heavily populated by painting and literature, several melancholy, cigarette-packed love poems make it clear that people have equal sway. Yet Collins is always intent on proving that art, too, is experience. In "Metamorphosis" he dreams of waking up as the 42nd Street branch of the New York Public Library. "I would feel the pages of books turning inside me like butterflies. / I would stare over Fifth Avenue with a perfectly straight face." No one should be surprised to discover that his wish was partly granted. In 1992, that institution named Collins--with a perfectly straight face?--a "Literary Lion." <I>--Kerry Fried</I> 1256292 1991 Questions About Angels: Poems (Pitt Poetry Series) total:416|5:190|4:151|3:59|2:13|1:3| 416 1760 505 37 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 4 1 false Tue Jan 15 18:31:50 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 15 18:35:05 -0800 2008 more...]]> 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 4 0 false Sun Nov 30 17:43:12 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 17:53:14 -0800 2008 "I can see them standing politely on the wide pages
that I was still learning to turn,
Jane in a blue jumper, Dick with his crayon-brown hair,
playing with a ball or exp...more...]]> 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 3 0 false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 03 18:33:25 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 11 19:03:50 -0700 2007 more...]]> 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 4 0 false Tue Jun 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 18:18:46 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 02 11:29:13 -0700 2009 American Sonnet
A History of Weather
Reading myself to sleep (he perfectly describes this)
Forgetfulness
Field Guide (Wisteria has a new reference for me)
Memento Mor...more...]]> 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 3 0 false Mon Feb 02 17:50:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 17:53:19 -0800 2009 ]]> 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 5 0 false Thu Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Sun Jun 17 08:09:26 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 17 08:15:57 -0700 2007 more...]]> 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 4 0 false Tue Jun 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 16:28:10 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 16:30:31 -0700 2009 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 5 0 false Sun Sep 20 07:59:26 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 07:59:26 -0700 2009 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 3 0 false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 12:51:26 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 12:52:30 -0700 2009 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 3 0 false Wed Mar 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Dec 26 21:04:05 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 18 17:10:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 5 0 false Thu Jul 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 23 14:46:57 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 23 14:47:19 -0700 2009 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 5 0 false Sat Sep 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jan 17 16:41:08 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 01 21:21:16 -0800 2009 The Dead, Collins declares that "while we are putting on our shoes or making a sandwich," the dead are looking down at us "thr...more...]]> 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 4 0 false Fri Oct 12 19:41:21 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 12 19:45:26 -0700 2007 more...]]> 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 5 0 false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Thu Oct 04 22:03:01 -0700 2007 Sat May 31 19:04:10 -0700 2008 more...]]> 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 3 0 false Thu Sep 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 12:56:42 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 14:55:20 -0700 2009 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 4 0 false Fri Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 11 15:08:19 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 11 13:05:05 -0700 2008
Click here to see an animation clip inspired by Forgetfulness. more...]]> 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 4 0 false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 23 10:28:35 -0800 2008 Fri Apr 18 07:34:21 -0700 2008 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 5 0 false Wed Mar 14 20:15:05 -0700 2007 Wed Mar 14 20:50:39 -0700 2007 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 5 0 false Sat Nov 01 11:28:42 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 01 11:29:49 -0700 2008 24405 0822942119 9780822942115 406 37 4.23 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167521995m/24405.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24405.Questions_About_Angels_Poems 4 0 false Wed Aug 06 08:08:33 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 06 08:09:22 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=24405