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Becos: Poems
James Wright has written about Bill Knott's “indispensable poems, poems that no one else could write" that they are “likely to endure long after most of our contemporary smoke has done me the unintended but nevertheless genuine personal favor of simply drying up and blowing away." Becos is the eighth book, and the first to appear from a major publisher, by a poet who has long been recognized as one of the truly original voices of his generation. Knott is our Rimbaud, our most and challenging poéte maudit. His new work displays wild surrealism, gallows humor, tenderness, anguish and wit, and a deep familiarity with the Western poetic tradition. It is exuberant, extravagant, untamable and outrageous - and an enduring contribution to American letters.
- GenresPoetry
65 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
26 people want to read
About the author
Bill Knott
142 books36 followersBill Knott spent most of his youth in Chicago. He also taught poetry at Columbia College in Chicago in the early 1970s.
His first book was The Naomi Poems, published in 1968, under the pseudonym Saint Giraud. His many books of poetry include Auto-necrophilia, Love Poems To Myself, Rome in Rome, The Quicken Tree, Selected and Collected Poems, and Laugh At the End of the World: Collected Comic Poems 1969–1999.
He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003. He is currently an associate professor of English at Emerson College in Boston.
In recent years, he has several times made all of his collected poems available for free online.
His first book was The Naomi Poems, published in 1968, under the pseudonym Saint Giraud. His many books of poetry include Auto-necrophilia, Love Poems To Myself, Rome in Rome, The Quicken Tree, Selected and Collected Poems, and Laugh At the End of the World: Collected Comic Poems 1969–1999.
He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003. He is currently an associate professor of English at Emerson College in Boston.
In recent years, he has several times made all of his collected poems available for free online.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 13, 2014
I had the great privilege to study with Bill at Emerson College in the early 90's. I have many memories of him, but the most salient is when he asked if he could buy one of my lines for $10. I should have said yes, because I find it pretty easy to write a good line, but Bill Knott actually knows what to do with them. I love his poems. And I enjoyed revisiting this book.
Some of my favorite moments here:
"now we argue over which criteria
gravity uses to select its victims"
"I call my goodbyes home in the
dusk."
"I strap a TV monitor on my chest
so that all who approach me can see themselves
and respond appropriately."
"All the world's escapees, rubbing themselves lasciviously against the Berlin Wall."
"The one face I will find between my teeth
continues to quote me."
"One day we notice that the sun
needs feeding."
Some of my favorite moments here:
"now we argue over which criteria
gravity uses to select its victims"
"I call my goodbyes home in the
dusk."
"I strap a TV monitor on my chest
so that all who approach me can see themselves
and respond appropriately."
"All the world's escapees, rubbing themselves lasciviously against the Berlin Wall."
"The one face I will find between my teeth
continues to quote me."
"One day we notice that the sun
needs feeding."
Displaying 1 of 1 review