Name: Ballistics
Rating: 3 (2 reviews)
ISBN: 9781400064915

Billy Collins

The former U.S. poet laureate and best-selling author of Nine Horses and Around the Room presents a new compilation of his acclaimed poems, some of which have never before been published. 75,000 first printing.

Poems

Ballistics

S.M.

I'm not sure if I liked this collection less than previous ones because Collins' style has become somewhat predictable for me, or if these poems really do lack the oomph of his earlier work. If this were the first book of his I had read, I might have been more startled by his word-play, his punchlines, and his easy grace with descriptions of everyday life. But I've read every book he's published, including his early Video Poems, and I'd like to see him push in a new direction rather than writing the same (admittedly charming) poems he always has. This is not to say that there aren't some amazing stand-outs in this book or that there aren't wonderful turns of phrase in even the lesser poems. But I do think his ego and his too-professional polish are keeping him from taking chances and producing fresher work. 

Ballistics Poems

Reviews

Highlights