A Book Called Rats

A scrappy, outrageous, inventive collection that should leap off the shelf and keep inviting itself into the hands of readers hungry for new poetry. -- Michael Heffernan, Final Judge, The Blue Lynx Prize A Book Called Rats is a stunning collection, full of dark eroticism and haunting images that pull the reader into a world both beautiful and dangerous. The human condition doesn't change, but suddenly, in this sensuous, charged book with its perfect music, we are fascinated anew. -- Beckian Fritz Goldberg Miguel Murphy's always exceptional poems are invariably interesting and often surprising, perhaps even to himself, finding a symbiosis with contemporary narrative that is both compelling and disturbing. Consistently singular, edgy, and haunting, these pieces operate best at an intuitive level, giving the reader something that gets under the skin. The struggles in these poems are literally courageous ones. -- Albert Rios, National Book Award Finalist

Miguel Murphy's first collection of poems and winner of the 2002 Blue Lynx Prize.

Winner of the Blue Lynx Prize

Recipient of a Swarthout Award and an Academy of American Poets Prize, as well as the Blue Lynx Prize,