Boy

by Patrick Phillips

This follow-up to Patrick Phillips's award-winning debut navigates the course of the male experience, and particularly young fatherhood. Like Virgil's Aeneas, the book's central figure is in the middle time of life, a grown man with an aging father on his shoulders and a young son at his hand. Phillips's plainspoken and moving lyrics add an important voice to the poetry of home as they struggle to reconcile fatherhood and boyhood, present and past, and the ache of loving what must be lost.

Genres: Poetry

72 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2008

About the author

Patrick Philips was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned a BA from Tufts University, an MFA from the University of Maryland, and a PhD in English Renaissance literature from New York University. He is the author of the poetry collections Chattahoochee (2004), winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, Boy (2008), and Elegy for a Broken Machine (2015), a finalist for the National Book Award. Through his poems, Philips frequently tells stories of earlier generations of his white, working-class family’s life in Birmingham, Alabama; in his work, he also grapples with race relations, the complex and violent dynamics of family relationships, and parenthood. In an interview for storySouth, Philips noted that he has found working in traditional poetic forms to be “generative” while acknowledging a poem’s need for both narrative and song.

His honors include a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Copenhagen. He won the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s translation prize for his translations of the work of Danish poet Henrik Nordbrandt.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

VQR Series claimer, and disclaimer. This is the book Chattahoochee (Phillips' earlier and already mature book) grew up to be...there's an epigraph from Francis Bacon that haunts both titles: "He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune." The book stares down the mortal possibilities of all familial interaction and chooses (bravely) doomed and honest love over the safer alternatives. A tight, tight book.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard Phillips' poem "Falling" a year or so ago on NPR's "Writer's Almanac" as I was driving to school. I remember being completely blown away by the last line, and as soon as I got to my classroom I looked the poem up online and read it several more times. I still really like that particular poem, but there are many others in this collection that I enjoyed just as much, if not more: "Piano," "Matinee," "At the End of the All-Night Drive," and "A History of Twilight."

[Che · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars really. Really enjoyed FALLING and a few others.

[Tony Zitta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light to decent 9. Revelation and Heaven are standouts.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gentle, reflective lyrics about aging, becoming a parent and seeing your parents in yourself, and how time seems to spiral when that happens.

[Sadie Hardaway · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it for comp class, didn’t hate it, but disappointed

[Chris Lohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Patrick Phillips' work. In this book, he spends a lot of time exploring the transition from son to father. As a father, myself, I found a lot of the poems very touching.
Patrick's poems are easy to take in but leave you with something to ponder.

[Phobean · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Boy" is the first full book of poetry I've read in a fair while, and a fantastic, bitter-beautiful reintroduction to the of the fact/fiction/autobiographical world of poems. A fascinating peek into a man's view of himself and family through the lens of fatherhood. And, of course, there's the gorgeous, provocative cover. I highly recommend this book.

[Casey Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these poems. My favorite was "Heaven" - in fact, reading this poem on the subway is what lead me to read this book. I'm not usually a big poetry person but I throughly enjoyed this collection and will read more by Patrick Phillips in the future.

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book of poems about becoming a father, but it's more than that. Worthy reading, no doubt about it.

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

really great book of poetry. and a stand-up guy.