The Cat Without E-Mail

by Alan Brownjohn

The variety of theme and mood, impressive technical command and characteristic element of surprise – this is a writer whose work can never be taken for granted - ensure that The Cat Without E-mail will enhance an already considerable reputation. The collection revisits Brownjohn's childhood and adolescence as a 1930s' and wartime child, reflects wistfully on romantic adventures and unrealised ambitions, elegises his old friend Gavin Ewart, entertains with surreal dreams, sends up Sherlock Holmes and The Merchant of Venice and along the way humorously surveys avalanche dogs, a bug and a mosquito, and inevitably a cat without e-mail.

Genres: Poetry

64 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2002

About the author

Alan Charles Brownjohn was an English poet and novelist.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A witty collection which often uses a conversational, if not mundane tone which opens up into unexpected, imaginative and thoughtful vistas. Mortality and time, the loss of idealism and love are frequent topics, with the particulars of place, time and location very well evoked. A few of the poems seemed wilfully opaque, but the majority are excellent and rewarding, and there is often a very adept use of rhyme at play, especially striking in some unusual rhyme schemes.