A selection of the best of the hilarious free-verse poems by the irreverent cockroach poet Archy and his alley-cat pal Mehitabel.<br><br>Don Marquis&rsquo;s famous fictional insect appeared in his newspaper columns from 1916 into the 1930s, and he has delighted generations of readers ever since. A poet in a former life, Archy was reincarnated as a bug who expresses himself by diving headfirst onto a typewriter. His sidekick Mehitabel is a streetwise feline who claims to have been Cleopatra in a previous life. As E. B. White wrote in his now-classic introduction, the Archy poems &ldquo;contain cosmic reverberations along with high comedy&rdquo; and have &ldquo;the jewel-like perfection of poetry.&rdquo;<br><br>Adorned with George Herriman&rsquo;s whimsical illustrations and including White&rsquo;s introduction, our Pocket Poets selection&mdash;the only hardcover <i>Archy and Mehitabel </i>in print&mdash;is a beautiful volume, and perfectly sized for its tiny hero.