As Far as I Know

Description

Take comfort from this. You have a book in your hand not a loaded gun or a parking fine or an invitation card to the wedding of the one you should have married. Roger McGough is a poet who is at once directly accessible and a master of the art of surprise. He can delight us with his puns, sadden us with his stories, and occasionally tell us a few unwelcome truths too. This new collection demonstrates the tremendous variety of his work. He imagines the various home lives of the Surrealists, composes a couple of lyrics for the lovelorn waiting at the station, plays around with a few dictionary definitions - but above all faces the uncertainties and fears of ageing with characteristic wit and courage. Always inventive and irrepressibly comic, the warmth and honesty of his voice reaffirms McGough as a true original. 'The same blend of mischievous wordplay, subversion of cliche and distinctive sense of humour that makes him one of Britain's most popular poets.' Spectator 'Self-effacing, unshowy, frequently funny, but with a quiet frankness.' Scotsman

Date- 2004-03-15 Roger McGough was born in Liverpool in 1937. He has written over 50 books for both. He has won the Signal Award for Poetry twice, and the Cholmondeley Award. He has also won a BAFTA for his film work and a Royal Television Society Award for his TV series. He was awarded the freedom of the City of Liverpool in 2001 and his OBE in 1997. He presents Poetry Please and guest hosts Home Truths on Radio 4. Roger McGough was born in Liverpool and educated at St Mary's College and the University of Hull. He has been a writer for many years, and his numerous collections have established him as one of the most distinctive and powerful voices in contemporary poetry. Among his most popular titles are Summer with Monika, Blazing Fruit and Defying Gravity, all published by Penguin, and for children An Imaginary Menagerie, Pillow Talk and Bad, Bad Cats. He is an international ambassador for poetry and in 1997 was awarded an OBE, and in 2004 he was awarded a CBE. His most recent books include All the Best and Slapstick and for adults, Collected Poems and Selected Poems.

The same blend of mischievous wordplay, subversion of cliche and distinctive sense of humour that makes him one of Britain's most popular poets * Spectator * As Far As I Know is self-effacing, unshowy, frequently funny, but with a quiet frankness * Scotsman * Moving poems on memory, love, aging, death and youth ... with his characteristic mix of wordplay and punning, wit, melancholy and self-deprecation * Independent *