Nicknamed “the most popular poet in America” in The New York Times by Bruce Weber, Billy Collins is known for his witty, humorous poems that draw readers in with light comedy, but typically slide into bizarre, clever, and/or erudite observation on the day-to-day, often understated, details of life, reading, writing, and poetry itself. Time after time again, Collins’ poems have caused readers to pause and think about the world around them. For instance, his poem “I Go Back To The House For A Book”, can not help but lead readers to wonder about their own little decisions, and how different things could have turned out had they made alternative choices.
Billy Collins was born on March 22nd, 1941 in New York City. He was an only child, born to William, who was an electrician, and Katherine Collins, who was a nurse. Each of his parents was forty at the time of Collins’s birth. Collins grew up in Jackson Heights, a community in Queens, New York City. When Collins was in middle school, his father became a Wall Street insurance broker and was remarkably successful, and ultimatley moved with his family into Westchester County.…show more content… When his family had company, he would sit and pretend to read an encyclopedia, expecting the guests to be impressed with him. Collins also recalls his very first endeavor at writing: When he was ten, he and his family were riding in a car alongside the East River. When he saw a sailboat, he asked his mother to give him writing materials. At church, Collins was an altar boy, and he claims that memorizing Latin phrases for Mass influenced his writing. He memorized the “music of the sounds without knowing their meaning”. Collins also recalls that his father brought home poetry from his office, and reading this material fortified the adolescent author’s interest in