Kill the Messenger

by Robert Kelly

Everything that ought to be known about Robert Kelly can be found in his books, of which this is the fortieth.From "The Court Painter":How can I show you the truth ofanyone witout his face you ask?The face is the last thing I paint,& the least important.It is there to trick the subjectinto thinking he is one,that he has been 'represented.'But where he is is in a foldof cape, shadow of a label,wrinkle between elbow & those widegold stripes that tell how great he is

Genres: Poetry

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1979

About the author

Kelly has published more than fifty books of poetry and prose, including Red Actions: Selected Poems 1960-1993 (1995) and a collection of short fictions, A Transparent Tree (1985). Many were published by the Black Sparrow Press. He also edited the anthology A Controversy of Poets (1965).Kelly was of great help to the Hungryalist group of poets of India during the trial of Malay Roychoudhury,with whom he had correspondence,now archived at Kolkata.

Kelly received the Los Angeles Times First Annual Book Award (1980) for Kill the Messenger Who Brings Bad News and the American Book Award, Before Columbus Foundation (1991) for In Time.

Reviews

[Billy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not the type of poetry I would necessarily go out of my way to read, and it is certainly not the type of poetry I like to write. However, it was interesting and I book marked a few poems as being particularly good.

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

not only is he brilliant, he's my uncle.

[Jamie Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phenomenal.

[Mitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Try The Death of Lenny Bruce, for example.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please see my review of The Convections. Kill the Messenger is one of Kelly's great books.