In this Book

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Praise for David Kirby
"Kirby is exuberant, irrepressible, maniacal and remarkably entertaining.... Okay, let me just say it: he is a wonderful poet." -- Steve Kowit, San Diego Union-Tribune
"Kirby's voice and matter (teaching, literature, traveling, rock 'n' roll, everyday bozohood) are utterly personal and, despite all the laughter, ultimately moving." -- Ray Olson, Booklist
"[Kirby] is a poet who peels away the layers of our skin to show us who we are: our weaknesses, our strengths, and our hilarious obsessions." -- Micah Zevin, New Pages
"The world that Kirby takes into his imagination and the one that arises from it merge to become a creation like no other, something like the world we inhabit but funnier and more full of wonder and terror." -- Philip Levine, Ploughshares
"These poems may be too cool for words." -- Carol Muske-Dukes, New York Times Book Review
Inspired by the carpenter's biscuit joint -- a seamless, undetectable fit between pieces of wood -- David Kirby's latest collection dramatizes the artistic mind as a hidden connection that links the mundane with the remarkable. Even in our most ordinary actions, Kirby shows, there lies a wealth of creative inspiration: "the poem that is written every day if we're there / to read it."
Well known for his garrulous and comic musings, Kirby follows a wandering yet calculated path. In "What's the Plan, Artists?" a girl's yawning in a picture gallery leads him to meditations on subjects as diverse as musical composition, the less-than-beautiful human figure, and "the simple pleasures / of living." The Biscuit Joint traverses seemingly random thoughts so methodically that the journey from beginning to end always proves satisfying and surprising.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
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  1. Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
  2. pp. 2-7
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
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  1. Why I Don’t Drink Before Poetry Readings
  2. pp. 1-4
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  1. East of the Sun, West of the Moon
  2. pp. 5-7
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  1. Psychodynamic Electrohelmet
  2. pp. 8-9
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  1. The Voice in the Other Room
  2. pp. 10-11
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  1. What’s the Plan, Artists?
  2. pp. 12-15
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  1. Ten Thousand Hours with You
  2. pp. 16-18
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  1. I ♥ Hot Moms
  2. pp. 19-22
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  1. Backwards Man
  2. pp. 23-25
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  1. Roy G. Biv
  2. pp. 26-27
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  1. Senior Coffee
  2. pp. 28-29
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  1. Almost Happy
  2. pp. 30-31
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  1. My Favorite Foreign Language
  2. pp. 32-43
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  1. Baby Handle
  2. pp. 33-38
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  1. Ode to My Hands
  2. pp. 39-40
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  1. Breathless
  2. pp. 41-42
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  1. To Everyone Who Has Died Since I Was Born
  2. pp. 43-44
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  1. Siberia
  2. pp. 45-47
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  1. If Any Man Have an Ear, Let Him Listen
  2. pp. 48-50
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  1. Horrible Things May Be True
  2. pp. 51-52
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  1. Notes
  2. pp. 53-54
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