A Year in the New Life - by Jack Underwood (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Jack Underwood's debut collection, Happiness (2015), was celebrated for its unconventional and daring tone: 'conversational, arresting . . . weird, singular' (Guardian). Such qualities are on accomplished display in this anticipated new collection, as the poems mature and move on to a wide range of preoccupations, including imminent societal collapse and current riots; the limits of masculinity and complexities of fatherhood; as well as uncanny, often amusing scenarios, such as serving drinks to a gathering of fifteen babies or group kissing in Empathy Class. Throughout, incongruous and domestic subjects re-align in skewed lyrics and thought experiments, all presented with a generosity and tenderness that makes the poet so unmistakable - and indispensable for the strange times in which we live.

Review Quotes

"The glorious abundance of Jack's wayward absurdism and imagism creates intellectual plot-points felt like dreams, a way to think about logic in a different way, a way to think about things and people and life in a different way, which is the intention of poetry." -- Rachael Allen

"Jack Underwood demonstrates in A Year in the New Life that he's one of the most innovative imagists and thinkers writing in the English language." -- Anthony Anaxagorou