Sailing Alone Around the Room
Sailing Alone Around the Room gathers new and selected poems by Billy Collins, drawing from his earlier books along with previously uncollected work. Published around the time he became United States Poet Laureate, the collection shows the qualities that made him one of America's most popular poets. Collins writes in plain, conversational language about ordinary things, a snowy morning, a dog, a piece of music, a house, and turns them toward surprise, wit, and quiet feeling. His poems are accessible without being slight, often beginning in the everyday and drifting into reflection on memory, mortality, and the imagination. The book serves as a strong introduction to his work, collecting many of his best known pieces in one place and showing why his readings draw large audiences.
What you might want to know about Sailing Alone Around the Room
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A collection of new and selected poems by Billy Collins, known for their humor, clarity, and everyday subjects.
Yes. It is a new and selected collection that gathers many of his best known poems in one volume.
Yes. He served as United States Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003, around the time this collection appeared.
Sailing Alone Around the Room was written by Billy Collins, published in 2001 by Random House.
Sailing Alone Around the Room is 192 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Sailing Alone Around the Room takes most readers 3 to 4 hours to finish.
Sailing Alone Around the Room is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.