O Holy Cow!: The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto

Found poetry is based on the idea that all kinds of texts, including conversational speech, are chock full of the stuff of poetry. Interesting sound-patterns, thematic repetitions, startling imagery--these typically poetic dimensions of language are always present, only in less-concentrated forms than one finds in poetry proper. Taking a leap of faith that the theory holds water, editors Tom Peyer and Hart Seely have gone through countless hours of baseball broadcasts and emerged with a book-length collection of what they are calling the verse of Phil Rizzuto, the beloved broadcaster of the New York Yankees. Rizzuto's "poems" are hilarious and often-insightful instances of the poetry of everyday speech. A total success.