Overview

“The most potent ingredient in virtually every one of Bob Hicok’s compact, well-turned poems is a laughter as old as humanity itself, a sweet waggery that suggests there’s almost no problem that can’t be solved by this poet’s gentle humor.”
—New York Times Book Review

Read More Show Less
... See more details below
Insomnia Diary

Available on NOOK devices and apps  
  • NOOK Devices
  • NOOK HD/HD+ Tablet
  • NOOK
  • NOOK Color
  • NOOK Tablet
  • Tablet/Phone
  • NOOK for Windows 8 Tablet
  • NOOK for iOS
  • NOOK for Android
  • NOOK Kids for iPad
  • PC/Mac
  • NOOK for Windows 8
  • NOOK for PC
  • NOOK for Mac
  • NOOK Study
  • NOOK for Web

Want a NOOK? Explore Now

NOOK Book (eBook)
$10.49
BN.com price
(Save 18%)$12.95 List Price

More About This Book

Overview

“The most potent ingredient in virtually every one of Bob Hicok’s compact, well-turned poems is a laughter as old as humanity itself, a sweet waggery that suggests there’s almost no problem that can’t be solved by this poet’s gentle humor.”
—New York Times Book Review

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times
#8230; ultimately the most potent ingredient in virtually every one of Bob Hicok's compact, well-turned poems is a laughter as old as humanity itself, a sweet waggery that suggests there's almost no problem that can't be solved by this poet's gentle humor. — David Kirby
Publishers Weekly
"It's late and I've stayed up to miss you," Hicok writes, in his customary plain speech. "A man on TV's playing lute with dirty fingernails." In his fourth collection, Hicok writes with a newfound maturity and an appealing lack of obsession with self, examining the joys and pains (mostly pains) of ordinary others. As in earlier books, he chronicles a blue-collar life, a life in which "no matter what happens you have to punch in." The collection commences with a poem about a mentally ill roommate ("At least once you should live with someone/ more medicated than yourself"), and is also populated by a father, an uncle, a wife, a guy holding up a gas station and a little girl obsessed by the size of her hips. Two of the most moving poems concern a laid-off worker, told from the perspective of the boss: "When I told him/ I saw he was looking for a place/ in his brain to hide." Whimsical, even surreal, self-deprecation is one of the recurring gestures of the book; Hicok details the familiar encroachments of age on his hairline and rear end and accuses himself of being a voyeur as the urge for actually doing things ebbs. Although desire is not absent from these poems, the love that Hicok writes about is nearer agape than eros, present despite its frequently class-based trappings: "[W]ho's to say/ love isn't a power suit, Power/ book, coffee/ for breakfast." People drink a lot in these poems; they smoke dope, they smoke cigarettes, they try to escape themselves-and Hicok does not indict them, or himself, for it. "I'm a better poet than man," Hicok writes, but one suspects it really isn't true. (Mar. 28) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780822990925
  • Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
  • Publication date: 3/14/2004
  • Series: Pitt Poetry Series
  • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 96
  • Sales rank: 1,366,684
  • File size: 220 KB

Meet the Author

Bob Hicok teaches creative writing at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, and his poetry has appeared in numerous publications, including Poetry, Paris Review, and the New Yorker. He is the author of The Legend of Light, which won the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, and Animal Soul, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry.

Read More Show Less

Table of Contents

Bottom of the ocean 1
Small purchase 3
The semantics of flowers on Memorial Day 5
Dropping the euphemism 7
Calling him back from layoff 10
My life with a gardener 12
Meeting Bill 13
An old story 15
The documentary art 16
Becoming bird 16
Another awkward stage of convalescence 20
The bald truth 22
After working sixty hours again for what reason 23
Oath to my former life 25
Spirit ditty of no fax-line dial tone 27
Insomnia diary 29
Go Greyhound 32
Finally opening the anthology to Kunitz 35
Free-floating anxiety sounds like a pretty balloon 36
Tuesday's walk 38
1935 40
American Studies 42
Sur Coast diary 44
Capital crime 46
Now and then I am direct 51
Growing at the speed of fashion 53
Bars poetica 56
Translator's note 57
Echo 60
Mortal shower 62
Meteor shower 65
Building a painting a home 66
Commission by attrition 68
Goodbye in the shape of a knot 71
The edge 73
Radical neck 74
It's not so much the heat as the stupidity 77
Cure for the common cold 78
Cutting edge 80
Truth about love 81
Shopping at the ocean 83
Acknowledgments 85
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)