The Problem with Billy…

by pottygok

Posted to WritersAndGenres on 2003-08-02 08:54:00

Parent message is 488690
is that he has forgotten what his job as poet is.

If you’re going to read him, check out his earlier books–“Questions About Angels” is possibly the best of the bunch, but other ones–“The Apple That Astonished Paris” and what not are equally as good.

However, yes, within recent years, he has become bloated. His craft is still excellent, he simply doesn’t do anything with it. There was a reading a Case Western Reserve University (sounds a lot like the reading you were talking about–at least this man is extremely popular.) and a friend of mine attended it. His description was along the lines of “Yeah…for the whole hour we were extremely entertained. It was really funny.” I asked him if that’s why he goes to poetry readings, to be entertained.

Billy has taken poetry, and made it a sort of stand up…it’s really pretty annoying for someone who has so much potential, and decides to waste it on jokes.

Sidenote, I’m not against light verse, or humorous verse. But if that’s ALL the poet is doing, and they’re poet laureatte (SP???) then something is terribly wrong. So yeah, check out Billy, especially for craft guidence, but be forwarned. Books like “Picnic, Lightning” are not pinacles of poetry by any means.