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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 26, 2025
This slim volume of the, at the time, relatively revolutionary poetry of the Liverpudlian poet, Roger McGough, I discovered on the bookshelves at my brother’s home when visiting recently. This edition was published by Jonothan Cape in 1972, though the title poem was first published in 1969.
I picked it up to read while waiting for the rest of the household to wake from a night of convivial chat fortified by wine.
The style of poetry has been built on, modified, and copied over the intervening years – a compliment to the author. There is a certain rawness, some wonderful light bawdiness, humour of course, and much insight. The content reflects the time in which the verse was written; a period of social upheaval, much change in attitudes, disruption of established generational relationships, and, especially, a fertile alteration in gender roles and the way we all viewed sex.
For me, there are echoes of my teens, reminders of unusual and disturbing events and outlooks that time had rendered almost ordinary with its passing. The volume encapsulates those years of change and promise and reminds me of the period in terms personally significant.
That I’m currently writing a novel set partly during those years was a factor in my asking to borrow the book; it will work as a reminder, a prompt, when I reach that stage in editing the developing story.
If you can find a copy, and wonder about what life was about in the 1960s and early 70s this volume will serve you well in that search.
I picked it up to read while waiting for the rest of the household to wake from a night of convivial chat fortified by wine.
The style of poetry has been built on, modified, and copied over the intervening years – a compliment to the author. There is a certain rawness, some wonderful light bawdiness, humour of course, and much insight. The content reflects the time in which the verse was written; a period of social upheaval, much change in attitudes, disruption of established generational relationships, and, especially, a fertile alteration in gender roles and the way we all viewed sex.
For me, there are echoes of my teens, reminders of unusual and disturbing events and outlooks that time had rendered almost ordinary with its passing. The volume encapsulates those years of change and promise and reminds me of the period in terms personally significant.
That I’m currently writing a novel set partly during those years was a factor in my asking to borrow the book; it will work as a reminder, a prompt, when I reach that stage in editing the developing story.
If you can find a copy, and wonder about what life was about in the 1960s and early 70s this volume will serve you well in that search.
September 8, 2017
The collection that introduces me to Roger mcGough and poetry that opened up a whole new door. there is no more perfect poem than 'my cat and I'. .... mcGough s poems have changed shape with his age - they all capture the beauty in the every day and this is the perfect start.
March 12, 2023
I still get a kick out of the best of his work, and I’m still finding poems I didn’t already know. So many gems.
October 2, 2012
Another lovely Roger McGough book!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews