The Vintage Book Of Love Poetry

Description

This anthology is shaped not by literary chronology but by the timeless human drama it records- its five 'acts' move from speculation and COUP DE FOUDRE through the troubled endurings of love - its consummations, dangers, joys, perversions and abdications - to loneliness and memory. In addition, the poems are presented anonymously, so that Marvell's coy lady rubs cold shoulders unexpectedly with Gershwin's naughty baby; and complex psychological fictions are overthrown by squibs. John Fuller provides a provacative introduction to this uniquely expressive handbook of shared emotion.

John Fuller, born in Ashford, Kent, is an acclaimed poet and novelist. His collection Stones and Fires (1996) was awarded the Forward Prize; Ghosts (2004) was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award for Poetry; The Space of Joy (2006) was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award, and The Grey Among the Green (1988), Song & Dance (2008) and Pebble & I (2010) were all Poetry Book Society Recommendations. His 1983 novel Flying to Nowhere won the Whitbread First Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He has also written collections of short stories and several books for children. He is an Emeritus Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.

A sparkling production... This anthology has already provided hours of absorbing enjoyment -- Antonia Fraser * Sunday Times * A very good collection, with a number of surprises -- Anthony Burgess * Observer * The perfect gift for lovers -- Kate Saunders * Cosmopolitan *