Wonders at the corner

These are impeccably-crafted poems brimming with wit, intelligence, and verve. Seraphs and fruitbats -not to mention the kindness of the sliced banana -are some of the delights present in Wonders at the Corner. Suzanne Collins s debut collection simply bedazzles. Collins finds inspiration, and the opportunity for existential musing, in unlikely places: the waiting room of a car repair shop, say, or as a patient in a dentist s chair. In fact, unexpectedness is the collection s greatest strength -and that quality is as evident in Collins s crisp phrasing as it is in her penchant for looking at life from an offbeat angle. It makes for a witty, disarming debut (Barbara Carey, Toronto Star)