I first heard about these poems when a woman in the theatre department at MSU (Go green!) did a monologue as Mehitabel. I was intrigued and vowed to get the book. I did.

Some may get turned off by the style of the writing, and, to be honest, it does take a few reads to understand it, since there is no capitalization or punctuation. [The concept of the book is that Archy is a cockroach poet who writes the poems by bouncing on the typewriter keys, so he can't do the "shift" key.] After a poem or two, you get used to it and you get sucked into Archy's philosophies and Mehitabel's grandiose ideas; for example, she claims to be a reincarnation of Cleopatra...

Wonderful poems and almost life-changing creeds. Uplifting and thought-provoking.

Share/Like this Review?

This book is a treasure. The premise is improbable but it works beautifully. Don Marquis had a newspaper column and this book, first published in 1916 is taken from the column. It is about a cockroach who calls himself archy, a reincarnated (as a cockroach) poet and his pal mehitabel, a cat who declares she lived previous lives in such form as Cleopatra and other female luminaries. Archy makes use of his "boss's" typewriter by hitting the keys with his head (and thus unable to capitalize or use punctuation (but works his away around it) to write free verse on his and mehitabel's exploits. "whotthehell whotthehell" this book will enchant you!

Share/Like this Review?

I first met Archy and Mehitabel while in High School, decades later they still delight me.

Share/Like this Review?

archy and mehitabel-- the cockroach and the cat-- are a delightful subject for archy's typed poetry. he couldn't use the shift key, so it's all in lower case, but that doesn't affect its charm in the least.

Share/Like this Review?

A classic!

Share/Like this Review?