A Certain Slant of Sunlight - Ted Berrigan

Advantages: Ultimatly life-affirming
Disadvantages: Hard to obtain in England (try the Internet)

...I prefer American poets. British poets are too self-obsessed and parochial. Of all Modern American Poets, Jim Carroll is the most emotionally direct. While some of his early work can be contextually obscure, his heart always comes through. Carroll’s creativity pulled him through protracted Heroin addiction in the 70s. He became an over-night star in New York’s underground poetry scene, buoyed up on praise from contempories Patti Smith and Ted Berrigan and rave reviews from the legendary Jack Kerouac. His unquenchable lust for expression led him to become a luminary of the New York punk scene in the 80s; his song ‘People Who Died’ widely considered a seminal work from that period. This is a man for whom words are more than a living, they are a life. His work combines the raw hunger of the street with an unpretentious spirituality... Read review

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Advantages: All the usual trademarks of an Irving novel
Disadvantages: If you aren't used to him you may find it a little odd

...and just about wacky enough to get me interested in reading the novel. I have read just about anything that has been written by Irving (apart from 'The Fourth hand' but that is being reserved by my local library - use your libraries more, they are an invaluable source of reading material!). The only book I found disappointing was 'A Son of The Circus'- I just couldn't get into the tale of doctors on the subcontinent, dwarves and murder. Anyway, back to the review. 'A Widow for One Year' opens, as do many books nowadays, with sex. The one thing about Irving is that he doesn't make it passionate and steamy, he always tends to add a comic slant to it, in this case by the use of a lampshade to cover embarrassment. The central characters are Ted Cole, a writer and illustrator; Marion, his wife, Eddie O'Hare, his driver and her lover; and Ruth... Read review

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Advantages: Beautifully crafted novel, a tale of naivety and misunderstanding.
Disadvantages: Perhaps more "literary", but well worth trying.

..., messenger of the gods. Leo is infatuated by Marian, who is intended to marry Trimingham. It is Trimingham who first gets Leo to take a message to Marian. Already the misunderstandings start; initially with Leo's inability to pronounce the name "Hugh" (he keeps saying "you"). Leo naively fails to understand the significance of the notes between Ted and Marian, believing them to be about "business", or "life and death" matters. He only realizes his mistake when he finally reads one of the notes, then he is deeply shocked and also worried as Ted is "only a farmer" in this class oriented time and place. He firmly believes that Hugh deserves Marian, although he has a certain respect for Ted, the only one of the trio who treats him as a person in his own right. The novel is filled with imagery and metaphor, the zodiac being just one of these... Read review

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