Shuffle and Breakdown

by Cody Walker

Cody Walker's Shuffle and Breakdown , his first collection and a finalist for the Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize in 2005 and 2006, is a work of comic brilliance and devastating irony. From "Abbott and The Alzheimer's Years" to a series of letters to Whitman from his imagined grandson, this is a wondrous strange book that operates with the precise timing of a great joke, while bracing itself for dissolution and worse.

Genres: Poetry

95 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Cody Walker lives in Ann Arbor and teaches English at the University of Michigan. He's the author of two poetry collections: The Self-Styled No-Child and Shuffle and Breakdown, both from The Waywiser Press. His awards include the James Boatwright III Prize for Poetry from Shenandoah and residency fellowships from the University of Arizona Poetry Center and the Amy Clampitt Fund. A longtime writer-in-residence in Seattle Arts & Lectures' Writers in the Schools program, he was elected Seattle Poet Populist in 2007. His work appears in The Best American Poetry, The New Yorker, Parnassus, Slate, The Yale Review, and Poetry Northwest. He blogs for The Kenyon Review.

Reviews

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cody!

I love Cody's wit, and if you've ever had the pleasure of witnessing him read in person, with his little nuances and quirks, the poems are even better.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how Cody uses forms to challenge the readers' expectations of the poems throughout this collection. He's able to be funny, dark, and touching all depending on where he decides to take the poems.

[Keith Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cody Walker, in addition to keeping things lively in Ann Arbor, writes wonderfully smart and often witty poems like no one else I know! I think this may be the first thing I wrote about him, but it won't be the last:

https://annarborobserver.com/articles...

[Julie Larios · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love this poet! He knows when to be clever, when to be silly, when to be melancholy, when to ask questions, when to look closely, when to step back for the big picture...knows how to rhyme, knows about rhythm and forms, understands wordplay and the value of a well-timed pun. And he often manages to do several of these things in one tightly-constructed, terrific, pocket-size poem. I laughed many times - and how many books of poetry can you say that about? Can't wait for another book from him.