2004
First Published
3.50
Average Rating
64
Number of Pages
This collection of humorous and satiric verse takes its title from that thoroughly southern term meaning “irreverent retort,” “ironic remark,” or “scoffing observation.” The ancient Roman poet Juvenal noted that his world made it hard not to write satire. Fred Chappell, finding his contemporary era analogous to that of imperial Rome, has in Backsass given in to the impulse for invective and mockery. Whether addressing the political, the poetical, or the practical, Chappell brandishes his lexical sword, ribbing our shortcomings, offering tonic advice, and occasionally shedding a tear for our fallen ideals. Some poetry is fine wine. Backsass is the driest of martinis.
Avg Rating
3.50
Number of Ratings
38
5 STARS
18%
4 STARS
37%
3 STARS
26%
2 STARS
13%
1 STARS
5%
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Author
Fred Chappell
Author · 19 books
Fred Davis Chappell retired after 40 years as an English professor at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He was the Poet Laureate of North Carolina from 1997-2002. He attended Duke University. His 1968 novel Dagon, which was named the Best Foreign Book of the Year by the Academie Française, is a recasting of a Cthulhu Mythos horror story as a psychologically realistic Southern Gothic. His literary awards include the Prix de Meilleur des Livres Etrangers, the Bollingen Prize, and the T. S. Eliot Prize.
