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britineurope's review
4.0
As a light read, this collection of poems was fantastic. A very poignant foreword from Wendy Cope about the nature of funny poetry and some absolutely smashing examples. I particularly enjoyed 'The Orbison Consolations' by Kit Wright, and indeed had never heard of him before which was another great feature of this book - it introduced me to some great names I had not heard of. Naturally there will always be a few in the collection that the general reader won't take to but in spite of this I still think there was too much Ogden Nash included.
pili_pala's review against another edition
4.0
This is a cracking collection. I love these Faber anthologies - for the introductory essays almost as much as the poems.
Wendy Cope's defence of funny poetry, and her rebuttal of the term 'light verse' to describe it, is worth reading. She points out that a poem can deal with a big subject - love, death, depression, betrayal - and still be funny. And that sometimes a blackly funny poem about depression is just what you need.
As usual in these anthologies, there were some old friends it was nice to see again and some very welcome new acquaintances.
Wendy Cope's defence of funny poetry, and her rebuttal of the term 'light verse' to describe it, is worth reading. She points out that a poem can deal with a big subject - love, death, depression, betrayal - and still be funny. And that sometimes a blackly funny poem about depression is just what you need.
As usual in these anthologies, there were some old friends it was nice to see again and some very welcome new acquaintances.
leanneymu's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Humour is subjective, so not all of these poems hit for me, but there were some lovely little gems in here. I especially enjoyed some of the clever structural pieces and the silly rhymes.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
jcampbell's review
funny
fast-paced
3.5
great collection of fun poems and its a lighthearted read that's fast and fun.
alice_esperanza's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0