A review by joannemerriam
The Art of Drowning by Billy Collins
4.0
Billy Collins has visited my city a number of times in the past two years, including giving a two-day writing workshop which I was fortunate to attend, as well as several readings. I enjoy his poetry most read aloud and in person, where his charismatic reality distortion field is in full effect and I as an audience member forget that I don't like easy poetry with easy conclusions provided pre-packaged for me, so that in the end I must grudgingly admit that I quite enjoy his work despite all my theories about what poetry should be.
If you like his poetry you'll certainly like this collection, which is, I think, quite representative of his work and has the advantage for me of containing my favourite of his poems, "Canada" (which readers can preview at The Poetry Foundation's website, where it is reproduced) about summers in Canada in his boyhood, which sound pretty similar to my own summers in Canada as a child. I think what Billy Collins does best is remind us of things we already know.
If you like his poetry you'll certainly like this collection, which is, I think, quite representative of his work and has the advantage for me of containing my favourite of his poems, "Canada" (which readers can preview at The Poetry Foundation's website, where it is reproduced) about summers in Canada in his boyhood, which sound pretty similar to my own summers in Canada as a child. I think what Billy Collins does best is remind us of things we already know.