A book "that has very little to do with trout fishing and a lot to do with the lamenting of a passing pastoral America . . . an instant cult classic" ( Financial Times).Richard Brautigan was a literary idol of the 1960s and '70s who came of age during the heyday of Haight-Ashbury and whose comic genius and iconoclastic vision of American life caught the imaginations of young people everywhere. Called "the last of the Beats," his early book...

"For language lovers, this book, with all its verbal tangles and wit, is sure to, in its own words, 'pass mustard'" ( Poets & Writers).Inspired by Daniel Menaker's tenure at the New Yorker, this collection of comical, revelatory errors foraged from the wilds of everyday English comes with commentary by the author, illustrations by Roz Chast, and a foreword from Billy Collins.During his time at the renowned magazine, Menaker happened acros...

This book is sure to capture the imaginations of young readers. A charmingly illustrated poem by former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins takes us on a journey that features magical transformations and makes a nautical adventure out of the act of reading. The interplay between the pictures and the poetry dramatizes how reading can transport us from our own familiar world into the fantastic world of a book. The boy in the boat stands for every reader and every child. Billy Collins is the aut...

**ONE OF OPRAH’S FAVORITE THINGS!NATIONAL BESTSELLERNew York Times bestselling author and former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins captures the essence and mystery of dogs in this special collection of poems inspired by our beloved companions, with striking watercolor canine portraits by Pamela Sztybel.**As Oprah says on Oprah Daily online: “This collection of 25 poems by Billy Collins is a sweet gift for dog lovers. ‘A Dog on His Master’ is...

Emily Dickinson lived as a recluse in Amherst, Massachusetts, dedicating herself to writing a "letter to the world"--the 1,775 poems left unpublished at her death in 1886. Today, Dickinson stands in the front rank of American poets. This enthralling collection includes more than four hundred poems that were published between Dickinson's death and 1900. They express her concepts of life and death, of love and nature, and of what Henry James called "the landscape of the soul." And as Billy C...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the former Poet Laureate of the United States and New York Times bestselling author of Aimless Love comes a wondrous new collection of poems focused on the joys and mysteries of daily life.“Among the best poems that [Billy] Collins has ever written.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR“Witty, wry and tender when it hurts, Water, Water is a pleasure to read and easy to give.”—The W...

An upcoming book to be published by Penguin Random House.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins comes a twelfth collection of poetry offering over fifty new poems that showcase the generosity, wit, and imaginative play that prompted The Wall Street Journal to call him “America’s favorite poet.”The Rain in Portugal—a title that admits he’s not much of a rhymer—sheds Collins’s ironic light on such subjects as travel and art, cats and dogs, loneliness and love, be...

Playfulness, spare elegance, and wit epitomize the poetry of Billy Collins.With his distinct voice and accessible language, America’s two-term Poet Laureate has opened the door to poetry for countless people for whom it might otherwise remain closed.Like the present book’s title, Collins’s poems are filled with mischief, humor, and irony, “Poetry speaks to all people, it is said, but here I would like to address / only those in my own time zone”–but also with quiet observation, int...

"A trove of well-wrought, luminous, soul-bracing gifts." -Thomas Lynch (on the 2010 edition)With selection chosen from a vast range of journals and magazines, The Best Spiritual Writing 2011 gathers the finest pieces of spiritual writing to appear in American publications during the past year. The collection offers an opportunity to read intimate and thought-provoking work, ranging from poetry to short fiction to memoir to essay, by some of the nation's mo...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the two-term Poet Laureate of the United States Billy Collins comes his first volume of new and selected poems in twelve years.“America’s favorite poet.”—The Wall Street Journal**Aimless Love combines fifty new poems with generous selections from his four most recent books—Nine Horses, The Trouble with Poetry, Ballistics, and Horoscopes for the Dead. Collins’s unmistakable voice, which brings to...

A vivid anthology of poems filled with wit, humor, imagination, and surprise, selected by guest editor Billy Collins.The seventy-five poems in an array of styles and forms in this collection celebrate the pleasures of poetry, from writers as varied as Laura Cronk to Reb Livingston. With insightful comments from the poets illuminating their work, and series editor David Lehman’s thought-provoking foreword, The Best American Poetry 2006 is a brilliant additi...