Customer Reviews

Laugh at the End of the World: Collected Comic Poems 1969-1999 (American Poets Continuum)

5 star:		(5)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This collection of poems includes some of Knott's greatest works, including many poems I hadn't read before. To any Bill Knott fans, this is a must have. And to anyone unfamiliar with his poetry, you should immediately check it out; it is a very unique combination of formalism, surrealism and futurism. These isms don't quite cover it, however. He seems to be looking at the entire English lexicon, from ultra-modern slang to archaicisms, when he composes his poems, choosing fresh and surprising combinations of words to fill every line.

Some of the best works in the book are his sonnets. (In the future I would love to see a collection of just his sonnets.) I didn't count them, but there are more than twenty sonnets in the collection and each is excellent. Knott uses the form of (usually) the Petrachan sonnet to make entirely fresh and moving poems again and again. One of the most impressive and entertaining of his sonnets is, "The Sonnet in ix" (which was first published, I believe, in an earlier, truly excellent, Bill Knott BOA edition book entitled, "The Quicken Tree"). The poem is a translation/parody of the Mallerme sonnet. Knott shows off his linguistic prowess by rhyming every line with "ix" without in anyway compromising the poem. It is a feat of shear brilliance.

Congrats to Bill Knott on a great collection of poetry and thank you to BOA for publishing it.

BUY THIS BOOK!

Even Robert Pinsky says so, and, yet, astoundingly, every time I mention this man's name in mixed, literate company, people scratch their heads.

I'd like to respond to the accusation in the above PW review that his work "bleeds into inanity..." Maybe there's some truth in that, but so what? I find it both comforting and refreshing that words like "warty-poo" crop up in Knott's work. It's nice that in a medium that's so often sobre and bloated with self importance that there's someone out there who seems to be having FUN, for cripe's sake. These "inane" words and phrases add a little childish delight. What other poet will leave you moaning with heart break on one page and giggling with pleasure on the next.

I can't understand why more people who consider themselves "well-read" aren't familiar with Knott. I'm not well-read, and I've read all his books. What's your excuse? Huh?

Just buy it! Don't ask questions. Buy everything that Knott has written. Read them all. When you're done, buy everything that James Tate has written. Read them all. If you've not run out of time, re-read them all. Then quit and think about things for a while.

Every Bill Knott book I have read as been a liberating experience for me. He continues to redefine the "rules" of poetry. And puzzlingly, not many people have heard of him. Those who have read his work, always swear by it. I have yet to meet someone who had something bad to say about Knott's poetry. Unfortunately for all of us, almost all of his books are out of print. However, there are enough gems collected in this edition to illuminate your perception of poetry, and to turn you on to him for life--perhaps leaving you, like me, scrambling to buy his out-of-print works for rediculous prices.

Bill Knott is a great poet. His mind is just so zany. One of my favorite lines of his is "A comma is a period which leaks."