The Apple that Astonished Paris

by Billy Collins

In 1988 the University of Arkansas Press published Billy Collins's The Apple That Astonished Paris, his "first real book of poems," as he describes it in a new, delightful preface written expressly for this new printing to help celebrate both the Press's twenty-fifth anniversary and this book, one of the Press's all-time best sellers.

In his usual witty and dry style, Collins writes, "I gathered together what I considered my best poems and threw them in the mail." After "what seemed like a very long time" Press director Miller Williams, a poet as well, returned the poems to him in the "familiar self-addressed, stamped envelope." He told Collins that there was good work here but that there was work to be done before he'd have a real collection he and the Press could be proud of: "Williams's words were more encouragement than I had ever gotten before and more than enough to inspire me to begin taking my writing more seriously than I had before."

This collection includes some of Collins's most anthologized poems, including "Introduction to Poetry," "Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House," and "Advice to Writers." Its success over the years is testament to Collins's talent as one of our best poets, and as he writes in the preface, "this new edition . . . is a credit to the sustained vibrancy of the University of Arkansas Press and, I suspect, to the abiding spirit of its former director, my first editorial father."

Genres: Poetry, American, Nonfiction, Adult, Literature, Humor

61 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1988

About the author

William James Collins is an American poet who served as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He was a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, retiring in 2016. Collins was recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library (1992) and selected as the New York State Poet for 2004 through 2006. In 2016, Collins was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. As of 2020, he is a teacher in the MFA program at Stony Brook Southampton.

Reviews

[Malia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this must be my sixth or seventh Billy Collin's collection, so you can probably tell, I am a fan of his work. This book is (I think) one of his earlier ones, and it's interesting to see the progression of his style, while the essence of his poems remains the same. Some of my favorites were: The Blue, Flying to a Funeral, Embrace, Introduction to Poetry, Books, and Personal History.

Find my book reviews and more at http://www.princessandpen.com

[Brent Legault · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know it's a little corny (okay, it's very, very corny) but I thought I'd try to read a book of poems a day for the next thirty days (on account of it being National Poetry Month). Stupid? Perhaps. (It's a bit like reading The Autobiography of Malcom X in February.)

Anyway, I sponser a lot of poetry, I hawk it in my shop, I listen to it, praise it, nod at it, generally acknowledge its importance, etc. But I rarely just sit down and read it. Hypocrite? Probably. But I'm willing to change.

So.

Here's my opening salvo. A book of poems by the U. S. Poet Laureate, 2001- 2003. Funny. I thought, after Bush II was elected, they'd've given up such niceties. (Or given them over to Larry The Cable Guy.) Low blow? You betcha.

Would you like to know my favorite poem within its walls? I'll spell it out for you:

ON CLOSING ANNA KARENINA

I must have started reading this monster
a decade before Tolstoy was born
but the vodka and the suicide are behind me now,
all the winter farms, ice-skating and horsemanship.

It consumed so many evenings and afternoons,
I thought a Russian official would appear
to slip a medal over my lowered head
when I reached the last page.

But I found there only the last word,
a useless looking thing, stalled there,
ending its sentence and the whole book at once.

With no more plot to nudge along and nothing
to unfold, it is the only word with no future.

It stares into space and chants its own name
as a traveler whose road has just vanished
might stare into the dark, vacant fields ahead
knowing he cannot go forward, cannot go back.

I checked the two translations of Anna Karenina that I had handy and the last word in each is it.

[Jenn Mattson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ordered in my frenzy to own all of Billy's books, and I think I've almost done it, aside from limited-run poems/collections, but this is his first published collection (in 1988! when I was entering my second year of college!). It has some of the original poems that made me first love Billy, but it would be a few years until I was introduced to them. Glad I have it now.

[Jennybeast · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking for language and wry humor and Billy Collins fit the bill. This time and every time, he delivers the sublime and the ridiculous.

[Jeremy Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I've been trying to read more poetry I've been keeping my ears out for references and recommendations to poets that others have enjoyed and the name Billy Collins has popped up a number of times over the last year. So I decided to give him a try starting with his first collection of poems.

For a first collection there were many poems that I enjoyed. I enjoy his use of language and the way that he is able to create scenes with very few words. Even though I did enjoy it, there was something about these poems that just felt off. That you would just get into the poem and want more and it would end and I'd be left wondering why it just ended like that.

There are two sections to this collection, part I is titled Away and part II is Home. I don't know that I really enjoyed one section more than the other. I did like more in part II, but it also has more poems, so it's hard to go by that. I'm not sure what I would say my favorite is of the collection either. The Blue and The Past were probably my favorites from the first half, and My Number and Introduction to Poetry were probably my favorites from the second half of the collection. Granted, the ones I enjoyed were all close enough that depending on the day those favorites could change.

Overall, I enjoyed this collection and will be looking to experience more of Billy Collins in the future.

[em · Rating 3 out of 5]

« Bare branches in winter are a form of writing. The unclothed body is autobiography. Every lake is a vowel, every island a noun. »

3.5-4✨

sehr schön, viel über die kleinen dinge im leben - aber ich glaube, seine anderen poetry collections sind besser

[Margaret Fisk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

I rarely read a book of poetry, and my taste runs more to Rudyard Kipling than most modern poetry. However, when I learned this book included a poem on etymology (something of a pleasure for me), I undertook to explore Billy Collins’ poetry.

What I discovered was articulate and evocative description to delight and surprise me. His ability to capture a place, time, or mood is significant, and I believe I enjoyed every one of the poems in the first section “Away,” though some connected with me more than others.

The second section, “Home,” frustrated me though.

Again, the description is written with a talented hand, the moments firmly captured so they unfold in front of me. And yet, in this same section is a dismissal of every reader’s experience, every moment of connection or understanding, as over-thinking. The poem, titled “Introduction to Poetry,” rails against the look for deeper meaning in poetry, a common refrain, and one I can sympathize with even as I reject the premise. But then, this is me finding meaning, so would most likely be dismissed as “beating it with a hose.” Or perhaps he’d consider I understood this poem perfectly, while rejecting the other meanings that tore me from his description and broke the connection I’d found.

My issue with several of the poems in “Home” is how they reveal him a result of rather than a commentator on society. “Child Development” is a wonderful, perceptive understanding of both childhood and the strictures put on people in the name of maturity that deny our actual experience or bury it deep where it springs forth in unreasoned anger or self-destructive behavior.

Then, having built that expectation, I get to “Earthling” where, in a few, short stanzas, Collins manages to connect with shared experience and then reject that experience and every person who does not fall into the “norm” who can revel in being perfectly adapted. Sure, it can be interpreted as him saying to be happy with who you are. However, he makes a point of establishing the personal happiness in the context of someone who is “average” while using those descriptive skills to point out the “other than average” nature of those who are not well suited, in his opinion of their opinion, for Earth.

There’s no apparent awareness of the underlying message that is weighed down with social convention and denying anyone who stands outside that norm. There are other poems in the collection with the same type of message, so disappointing when so much of the poetry is communal with shared experiences presented vividly.

Ultimately, I’d recommend reading Billy Collins’ poetry for his clear understanding of the English language and his ability to paint pictures in so few words by choosing the one detail that the majority of readers will have experienced, if not in the place where Collins’ refers to it. That is the strength of his poetry, and well worth experiencing. However, be aware that he is a product of his society, and when not directly intending a commentary, the commentary he offers is one of conformity.

[Jaffa Kintigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second time reading this collection. It is easy to read and clever, though the cleverness is usually cloying. I look for beauty in the poems I read, in particular, the beauty of describing something in a way that transcends the component words. Cleverness does not equal beauty.

The first poem that really got my attention was "Flying to the Funeral." It opens with both a wonderful depiction of what it feels like to look out a plane at the world below and with that aching feeling where all thoughts veer to a friend who's died. ". . . as we inch north at hundreds of miles per hour . . . I see only the places from which he is absent:/suburban diagrams where he is not plunging/into the blue dot of a swimming pool;/checkerboard farms where he is not leading/a horse into the darkness of a barn . . . ." The speaker imagines "taverns minus the tune of his voice." This is a haunting beauty that makes the collection.

In "Remembering Dreams," I adore the speaker's description of waking mid-dream: "But the rest of the story vanishes/as if someone had ripped an ancient epic from our hands/leaving us with a fragment, a few hexameters/whose rhythm is drowned out by the beat of daylight." This poem is also more typical of the collection which has many poems based on art, music, dreams and poetry. Typically, I am not a fan of poems about poetry, much like I'm not a fan of songs about singing.

Overall, I would not consider this a dark collection despite the poem "Flying to the Funeral." I mention this because the poem I liked the most was also dark. And short. In its entirety, "Cancer:" "When you need to say the word,/it cowers in back of your vocabulary/behind some outdated slang.//And if you try forcing it into the mouth/it lodges in the throat like a fishbone.//My father cannot say it yet./The old man cannot even hear it./He pretends I am saying 'campfire.'"

[Mmars · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very accomplished early effort. At times they felt a bit like practice poems, but that is a squabble. Few of us could even write one poem in our lifetimes that could come close to anything Collins has written here. Many of these poems relate to things literary - reading, writing, language, etc. Something I enjoyed a lot. It was one of the ars poetica pieces that drew me to the book and as I read I had no idea which one it was. But for me, that was a good thing.

[Sara Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billy Collins is, hands-down, the best poet in America at this time. I am never disapointed in his work. I was first introduced to Billy in college (literarly, he came to do a reading at my school) and I've been in love ever since. Even if you aren't a fan of poetry, you will find something in Collins' work to love. He writes beautiful, witty and surprizing poems.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Billy Collins. I was reminded to read him again when I recently read The Wonder Spot , and narrator Sophie Applebaum read him. "Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House" remains my favorite (and is also Sophie's favorite).

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is no Billy Collins book I do not love.

[Libras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

It's Billy Collins! It's poetry! In both meanings of the word.
Re-read time and again.
Makes you laugh and think!
Buy, read, enjoy!

[Bruce Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Apple That Astonished Paris, poems by Billy Collins (2006 reprint, 61pp). This is a book of magical poems from my favorite writer. A receipt tucked inside is dated 12/05/06, apparently handed to me shortly after 16:08 (4:08 pm to you non-military time types) by someone working at Books•A•Million on DuPont Circle by a clerk I no longer recall (if I ever did). This is a reprint of Billy Collins’ first book of poetry, at least his first published by a real publisher (so he writes in a new foreword). Possibly I tucked the collection of poems away, thinking it might not be as good as his later work, or I may have simply forgotten it after sliding it between folded clothes in luggage for my trip home to Colorado. That’s something else I don’t recall. Much to my surprise the poems are as magical as his later work: I need not have feared. Like I’ve done with many others, I read these anxiously, wanting to get on to the next brilliant set of lines, yet constantly drawn back to and savoring the words I was reading. And unlike virtually everything else I read, Collins’ verses push my mind into other realms, making me think beyond just what I am reading. That’s the magic of his writing: a mixture of joy, anticipation, and literary/emotional adventure. There are few things as exciting as reading his poems, so I recommend this book (and his entire oeuvre) only to those who can benefit from magic. (In retrospect, waiting 15 years, twenty-two days to read this book may have been the right thing to do.)

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only recently discovered Billy Collins. Awhile back I added an anthology of his poems to my To Read list after seeing it in a Huffington Post about poetry books for people who don’t like poetry, and then forgot why I added it but trusted my past self and borrowed it from the library.

I’ve always struggled to get the appeal of poetry. There are select poems I like, but I’m accustomed to commercial fiction and often lack the patience to move glacially through short lines. I especially lack an appreciation for contortions to obscure deeper meaning that’s intended to be profound.

What makes Collins’ poems so accessible is that they are often straightforward and on relatable topics. In this collection he even has a poem titled “Introduction to Poetry” about the tendency of English majors to “tie the poem to a chair and torture a confession out of it.” I also really enjoy his humor and whimsy.

I liked every poem in this, his first collection. I also found myself wanting to slow down, to read at the necessary pace and just a few at a time. I also saw why it was worthwhile to go back and reread poems, since I’d read several of the before in the anthology. I’d recommend this collection to those who are poetry shy, particularly anyone who was an English major or is a writer, as he’s particularly relatable on that level.

[Maria Hawley]

I read this front to back sometime in June, having read some of the poems beforehand. I didn’t think to add it to goodreads. Small books matter too, Maria. even small collections of poetry.

yeah this was great. Another writer calls this ‘unpretentious’ on the back cover and I like that. I think it’s accurate. I remember reading “The Blue” a long time ago on pinterest. I’m pretty sure I have pinterest to thank for giving me poetry while I was in grade school. The english teachers gave me some, but pinterest gave me the stuff that stuck.

So there I was on pinterest some odd years ago, beginning to read poems in a sort of unpretentious way. And then eventually I saved so many Billy Collins poems I realized I should probably actually buy his book.

this doesn’t have “The Genius” or “Dharma” but it does have “The Blue”, “Death”, & “On Closing Anna Karenina” and that makes it worth the read.

[Shay Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a million better poets than Billy Collins, and goodness knows there are hundreds of millions of worse ones. His poems have the pleasant oddness of Richard Brautigan, the formulaic sameness of Barry Manilow, and the good old American-ness of a cheeseburger.

While there are maybe four poems in this volume that snapped me out of my drowse for a moment--"Introduction To Poetry", "Another reason Why I Don't Keep A Gun In The House", "Child Development" and "Earthling"--when compared to somebody who has the kind of gift that stops one in one's tracks, like Lorca or Neruda or Cohen, this stuff just isn't good enough except to while away an hour on the porch on a Sunday afternoon. Not really recommended.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main issue with this book is that I started with Collins’ later books and moved backward until I got to this one. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with the writing but it is more self conscious and stilted than his later work. The poems are good but rarely have those enchanting whimsical turns that he is known for (now). If I had read this book first, I would have loved it and eagerly grabbed for more but having read it last, it just makes me wistful for his other work. The poems are very good. They just don’t so much as stir the soul as create small ripples. In short, read this if you are a diehard fan or looking for a place to start with his works or want to see the evolution of his writing.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of poetry by Billy Collins is like a box of really good chocolates with an occasional nutty surprise. I savor each poem--there's a variety--creamy, smooth, whimsical ones, crunchy, dark, Death-y ones, and jewels of sensory delight that make you go back and reread to relive that little thrilling ambush by a perfect metaphor. His curious stick-poking at life's mundane details makes reading these poems feel like a personal letter or a remembered dream.

If you are new to Billy Collins' poetry, start with this one, or really, anywhere. All his books are lovely collections. The title of this book delighted me as much as the apple in question astonished, and it was a delicious tour. Bon appetit!

[Riley Spellman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read “The Apple That Astonished Paris” over ten years ago, and it was a huge inspiration to me. I was really crazy about “Driving With Animals”—I even used it as inspiration for my own writing project at the time.

Over the years, I would randomly read Collins’s collections and enjoy them. This year, I decided to make a point of reading/rereading all his work, as a treat to myself. While it may be impossible to read “Pokerface” (never say never), I am definitely making progress in reading all his other projects—both collections he’s written and collections he’s edited.

Each collection is great, and I wish I could just thank Billy Collins for a great year of reading.

[Lola Trinchero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This poetry collection is incredibly beautiful. All of Collins' work is incredible. He is one of the greatest modern poets and in my opinion one of the greatest poets of all time. Each poem in this book is unique and special, but they all carry the same feeling of simplicity and contentment. I recommend this book to everyone. I think everyone should read Billy Collins' poetry.

Golden Line: "When war rattled the world, we shut the blinds
and huddled under a table while sirens harmonized.
Everything but our affection was rationed."

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading Billy Collins. I know many detractors but I like him! I enjoyed this volume immensely.

One must be in synch with a poet to enjoy their work. If you are unable to connect with even an excellent poet, their words and imagery will fall flat. Reading poetry is personal. Perhaps the appeal of Collins is that he connects with a broader spectrum of readers than most authors.

Collins has a knack of making the reader look at things differently, as in the first poem of this book, "Vanishing Point". For me, that knack is his the appeal.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sure--many of these were fine, fine poems. Some of which will stick with me. I particularly loved "Flying to a Funeral," "Books," "On Closing Anna Karenina," "Poem," "Advice to Writers," and "The Past."

I find Billy Collins to be disarming, humorous, metaphorical, silly, trite, accessible, surprising, and evocative. From poem to poem I go from loving to hating to loving to hating to loving. So there's that.

[Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great poetry collection by Billy Collins. This was his first true book of poetry. As with his other collections, a great opportunity to learn about topics: Hart Crane was a poet who committed suicide; Plight of the Troubadour explains langue d'oc vs langue d'oil. Other great poems include Vanishing Point; Fur; Bar Time; and Introduction to Poetry. Easy to read and enlightening.

[Evelyn Ding · Rating 5 out of 5]

The opening poem, "Vanishing Point", does a great job of capturing the journey this collection is about to take you on. Collins has an incredible imagination, creating heart-wrenching backstories for the most ordinary objects and concepts. My other favorites include "The Blue", "Etymology", "Winter Syntax", and honestly too many more to name.

[Bekkah Frisch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved this book for many years now. Each poem is an old friend to me now--particularly the poem "Books." I love how Billy Collins is able to infuse a bit of magic into ordinary things, and also how he brings the magical and the outlandish back down to earth. He's a truly phenomenal poet, and this little volume is my favorite of them all.

[Judine Brey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy Billy Collins' poetry because he is able to create pictures that make you both laugh and think. This republication of his first poetry collection included a frank, funny introduction of how the collection originally came about. The poem I especially appreciated was "Schoolsville," which turned teacher and students into their own small town.

[Jean Dupenloup · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I can’t say I’m astonished, and I actually am from Paris indeed...

All bad jokes put aside, I thought this small collection of poems by Billy Collins was decent, but not totally inspiring.

Honestly it’s hard to imagine that we didn’t have other poets in America more deserving of being out Poet Laureate.

[Steve Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old retired literature professor saw me reading poetry one day, and suggested I check out Billy Collins.

I told the old literature professor that I hate most poetry, which is true.

Yet Billy Collins…he has some real gems. Poignant, funny, inspirational…and a few I don’t care for.

But he gets five stars.

[Susan Kietzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever I'm in a bookstore, either stocked with new or used books, I look for a collection of poems by Billy Collins. His style, subject matter, and attitude about poetry suit me. I start my day by reading a poem, and I'm much more often than not pleased when it was penciled by Billy Collins. His work leaves me feeling grounded, rested, and seen.