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The Art of Drowning.

Publisher Modern Poetry Association
Publication Poetry
Subject Literature/writing
Format Magazine/Journal
ISSN 0032-2032
Issues per Year 12
Volume 175
Issue 4
Published 2000-02-01

Role Type Name
Reviewee n/a Billy Collins
Author n/a John Taylor

The Art of Drowning, by Billy Collins. University of Pittsburgh Press. $12.95.

Billy Collins sometimes sees his life "as a finger piercing / a smoke ring, casual, inquisitive," and this delicate, playful image might just as well stand for the man's poetry, itself a charming mixture of irony, wit, musing, and tenderness for the everyday. Rarely has anyone written poems that appear so transparent on the surface yet become so ambiguous, thought-provoking or simply wise once the reader has peered into the depths. Collins's pellucid style greatly facilitates this kind of...

[This journal article is 549 words long]

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