The Long and the Short of It

Name: The Long and the Short of It
Brand: Unknown
SKU: 9781852249595
Price: 83.99 NZD
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Poems 1955-2010

By Roy Fisher

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Summary

The Long and the Short of It is an expansive anthology showcasing 55 years of Roy Fisher's pioneering poetry. An inventive celebration of language and imagination, the collection spans his early experimental works of the 1950s, through key texts like City, The Ship's Orchestra, and Wonders of Obligation, to his critically acclaimed 1980s masterpiece A Furnace. The edition also includes his later, landscape-influenced poetry from the North Midlands, notably the Costa-shortlisted Standard Midland (2010). Praised for its wit, anarchic spirit, and sensory play, Fisher's poetry offers a unique and enduring literary experience.
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Format: Paperback / softback

$83⁹⁹

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The Long and the Short of It

$83⁹⁹

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This collection is ideal for readers interested in contemporary poetry that combines formal experimentation with rich sensory detail. It appeals to those drawn to the urban and landscape influences in literature, as well as fans of British late modernist poetry. Suitable for both dedicated poetry enthusiasts and new readers eager to explore innovative poetic voices.

Expanded edition of Roy Fisher's definitive retrospective edition to which the Costa-shortlisted "Standard Midland" (2010) has been added.

Description

This new expanded edition of The Long and the Short of It covers 55 years of Roy Fisher's poetry. Playing the language, pleasuring the imagination and teasing the senses, Fisher's witty, inventive and anarchic poetry has given lasting delight to his many dedicated readers for over half a century.

Choosing this book on "Desert Island Discs", Ian McMillan praised Fisher as "Britain's greatest living poet". The Long and the Short of It draws on the entire range of Fisher's work, from its fraught beginnings in the 1950s through major texts of the 1960s and 1970s like City, The Ship's Orchestra, and Wonders of Obligation to A Furnace, his 1980s masterpiece.

The collection also includes later work set in the scarred and beautiful North Midlands landscape where he has lived for the past 30 years, notably the Costa-shortlisted Standard Midland (2010), which has been added to this expanded edition.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Acclaimed by poets and critics alike, Roy Fisher is hailed as a late modernist whose work challenges and enriches. Sean O'Brien describes him as a 'redeemer of the ordinary' whose poetry evolves from seeming improvisations into architectural form. August Kleinzahler calls Fisher the poet who has most profoundly engaged him, while William Wootten highlights the book's intellectual daring and accessibility. The Long and the Short of It is considered an indispensable starting point for readers new to Fisher's work.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781852249595

Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 25 October 2012

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Bloodaxe Books Ltd

Edition: 2nd Revised edition

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 432

Collections

Arts & Culture Non-Fiction Poetry Roy Fisher

About the Author

Roy Fisher (1930-2017) published over 30 poetry books, and was the subject of numerous critical essays and several studies, including The Thing About Roy Fisher: Critical Essays on the Poetry of Roy Fisher, edited by Peter Robinson and John Kerrigan (Liverpool University Press, 2000), and of The Unofficial Roy Fisher, edited by Peter Robinson (Shearsman Books, 2010). He published four books with Bloodaxe. The Dow Low Drop: New & Selected Poems (1996) was superseded by his later retrospective, The Long and the Short of It: Poems 1955-2005 (2005), and followed by Standard Midland (2010), published on his 80th birthday, which was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. An expanded edition, The Long and the Short of It: Poems 1955-2010 including Standard Midland was published in 2012. His first US Selected Poems, edited by August Kleinzahler, was published by Flood Editions in 2011. His final collection, Slakki: New & Neglected Poems (2016) is a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation. Peter Robinson's edition, The Citizen and the Making of 'City' (Bloodaxe Books, 2022) includes Fisher's early, previously unpublished prose work 'The Citizen', the precursor of 'City', with all three versions of that later sequence. Born in Handsworth, Birmingham, he retired as Senior Lecturer in American Studies from Keele University in 1982. He was also a jazz musician, and lived in the Derbyshire Peak District in his later years.