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Title details for Water, Water by Billy Collins - Wait list

Water, Water

Poems

by Billy Collins
Billy Collins
Audiobook
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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the former Poet Laureate of the United States and New York Times bestselling author of Aimless Love comes a wondrous new collection of poems focused on the joys and mysteries of daily life.
“Among the best poems that [Billy] Collins has ever written.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR
“Witty, wry and tender when it hurts, Water, Water is a pleasure to read and easy to give.”—The Washington Post
“Collins remains the most companionable of poetic companions.”—The New York Times

One of People’s Best New Books
In this collection of sixty new poems, Billy Collins writes about the beauties and ironies of everyday experience. A poem is best, he feels, when it begins in clarity but ends with a whiff of mystery.
In Water, Water, Collins combines his vigilant attention and respect for the peripheral to create moments of delight. Common and uncommon events are captured here with equal fascination, be it a cat leaning to drink from a swimming pool, a nurse calling a name in a waiting room, or an astronaut reciting Emily Dickinson from outer space. With his trademark lyrical informality, Collins asks us to slow down and glimpse the elevated in the ordinary, the odd in the familiar. It’s no surprise that The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both call Collins one of America’s favorite poets.
The Monet Conundrum
Is every one of these poems
different from the others
he asked himself,
as the rain quieted down,
or are they all the same poem,
haystack after haystack
at different times of day,
different shadows and shades of hay?

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 19, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9798217064427
      • File size: 43251 KB
      • Duration: 01:30:06

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Two great characteristics of Billy Collins's poems are their surface simplicity and their intriguing depth. Collins reads them here as though the surface were all, letting us appreciate the language and wit but allowing us to stop and think and go as deep as we want into these meditations on poetry, age, mortality, and many other subjects. Now in his 80s, Collins spends more time looking back than forward in this collection, but there is no sense of farewell. He clearly has plans to continue writing (and reading). There is certainly no indication that he has run out of things to say, or subjects that intrigue him. The poetry and performance are equally lively, and reward careful listening. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      February 1, 2025

      Former U.S. Poet Laureate Collins (Musical Tables: Poems) narrates his newest collection of 60 poems focusing on the minutiae of daily living. Collins proves curious about the world around him and delightfully imparts his observations through conversational verse with ease and elegance, often in tandem with wit and wistfulness. Touching on themes of youth, nature, the universe, foreign lands, and religion, Collins flashes his keen eye for detail throughout the volume. In "Days of Teenage Glory," he recalls the 1950's New York City music scene. "New Zealand" has him enjoying a meal and contemplating astronomy while observing the Southern Cross. "The Thing" reflects on a Chinese porcelain bowl, which evokes thoughts of his mother. He contemplates aging and the passage of time in "Once in a Dog's Age." "Emily Dickinson in Space" centers on a Rome trip to give a talk and was introduced from space by an Italian astronaut. Unfortunately, Collins's monotone narration might cause poems to bleed into one another for listeners. The one exception is "Poem Interrupted by Gabby Hayes," wherein Collins demonstrates his narratorial chops, depicting multiple speakers. VERDICT Collins's latest collection of observational, witty poems will please his fan base, his flat narration notwithstanding.--Kym Goering

      Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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