Author(s): Kathryn Petras

Humour

Required reading from great poets of our time. Drew Barrymore: "Upon Pondering Breasts." Tom Cruise: "An Exegesis on Psychiatry." Ann Coulter: "My Kind of Fun." And Trump and Sheen and Snooki, John Boehner and Michelle Bachman, Miley and Ke$ha. Hugo Chavez. Even a Zen haiku by Emmitt Smith: I think it's his self-confidence in himself that makes him confident. With their great gift for curating the inane public utterances of celebrities, politicians, and other self-important loudmouths, Kathryn and Ross Petras offer a timeless collection of "found" poetry - real quotes formatted as verse for hilarious and surprising effect. The quotes are inherently addictive and funny - but turning them into verse intensifies the effect, making the words even more ridiculous, parodies to revel in. And the Petrases take it one step further: organizing the poems by themes, introducing each work with a Norton Anthology mock seriousness, discussing "schools," and larding the text with footnotes, "The Anthology of Really Important Modern Poetry" is pure deadpan pleasure. A whiff of Emily Dickinson in Ann Coulter? It's literary treasure, right under our noses.