"Backsass" by Fred Chappell

Backsass is a collection of poetry of humorous poems by Fred Chappell. According to the dust jacket of the book is a "southern term meaning 'irreverent retort,' 'ironic retort,' or scoffing observation.'" "I Suppose War Is Okay" is a very good satire on war. There are some other humorous poems. He seems to whine too much about other poets who have been more successful than he. He writes with a large academic vocabulary, but I find most of these poems to be lacking something. I read one of his novels. I cannot remember which one it was. I just remember that it was not satisfying. He taught classes in creative writing at UNC-G for forty years. This is a subject that I am sure can really be learned in a class.