“The Banquet” gathers 144 plays, ten screenplays, and five operas spanning more than five decades of experimental work by an author John Ashbery has described as "simply the best we've got." Kenneth Koch's work is filled with wit, a provocative character, and a playful mood, combining poetry, musicals, improvisational comedy, satire, and other forms of expression. It touches on themes ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Kenneth Koch (1925–2002), known for his connection with the New York School of poetry, has written many collections of poetry, fiction, plays, and non-fiction. Some of his books include: Seasons on Earth, On the Edge, Thank You and Other Poems, The Art of Love, One Thousand Avant-Garde Plays, Hotel Lambosa, and The Collected Fiction, as well as many books on teaching children how to write poetry.

Koch received many distinctions, including the Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry from the United States Library of Congress in 1996, as well as awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Fulbright, Guggenheim, and Ingram-Merrill foundations. In 1996, he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Kenneth Koch lived in New York City, where he was a professor of English at Columbia University.

Pages: 660, Dimensions: 15.2x15.2cm