'Raw and beautiful and completely devoid of pretension, Ali Whitelock’s poems will speak to anyone who’s ever messed up, been confused, wished they’d done things differently; to anyone who’s had an affair and regretted it, who’s been loved completely but was too blind to see it.' (Publication summary)
Dedication: To Thomas, whose wisdom saw beyond the insanity and loved me still.
'Poetry and comedy meet in Ali Whitelock’s poetry collection and my heart crumples like a coke can. As in a stand-up routine, these poems offer sharp social observation, frankness played for laughs and nourishing doses of swearing. And as with the best poetry, they refresh our language, pay homage to tradition as the generative source of art, and surprise and delight as wit slides into beauty or pathos. The effect of the defamiliarisations and transformations of both comedy and poetry can be invigorating. The reader receives a double shot of revitalisation here.' (Introduction)
'Poetry and comedy meet in Ali Whitelock’s poetry collection and my heart crumples like a coke can. As in a stand-up routine, these poems offer sharp social observation, frankness played for laughs and nourishing doses of swearing. And as with the best poetry, they refresh our language, pay homage to tradition as the generative source of art, and surprise and delight as wit slides into beauty or pathos. The effect of the defamiliarisations and transformations of both comedy and poetry can be invigorating. The reader receives a double shot of revitalisation here.' (Introduction)
