Encouragement for a Man Falling to His Death

by Christopher Kennedy

Christopher Kennedy’s poetry is funny, deadpan, self-effacing, and revelatory in the way of a man with nothing to lose. Mixing sonnets and prose poems, Kennedy lampoons the absurdities of contemporary American life using ironic fables and surreal parables. Kennedy’s poems also reflect his obsession with the idea of transformation—from the ordinary to the extraordinary, from life to death. Christopher Kennedy is director of the Syracuse University MFA Program in Creative Writing. He has received writing awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Saltonstall Foundation. This is his third full-length poetry collection.

Genres: Poetry

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Christopher Kennedy is the author of Ennui Prophet, Encouragement for a Man Falling to His Death, Trouble with the Machine , and Nietzsche's Horse. He is an associate professor of English at Syracuse University where he directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing.

Reviews

[Nadxieli Mannello · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems (prose and verse) are dark and funny at the same time, but then that makes sense since he lives in Syracuse.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm always wondering about prose poems versus poems. Here's a poet who knows the difference and who write both very well.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed very much. Especially after having met Christopher and heard him speak about poetry.
There is great power in prose poetry, where line and image economise yet compounding the effect.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the first half of this book, but ultimately the self-conscious (one might even say precocious) titling came off as insultingly smug and the consistent surrealistic dream-language got wearisome.