Blokelore & Blokesongs

About this book

Poetry. In this hilarious and irreverent new collection, Robert Conquest, now in his 95th year, lets us in on the musings of Old Fred, a man reflecting on the battle of the sexes, and wholly impervious to notions of political correctness. The poems give witty expression to a mind at once resigned and optimistic, baffled and amused, stoical and exuberant."All Conquest's strengths are evident here — wit, love of life, ferocious technique, and the infinite taking of pains." —Martin Amis"Never has blokishness appeared so witty, clever and charming as in these irresistible verses by Robert Conquest. Fred is the bloke whose lore this is, and Conquest treats us to Fred's robust male view of the opposite sex with a disarming candour. Only a first-rate poet could have written stanzas of such deceptive lightness and ease, engagingly propounding Fred's solidly masculine but far from simple sexual philosophy." —Selina Hastings"Fred Faraday may be Robert Conquest's liveliest poetic invention to date. Fred was a philosopher — of life, to be sure, but with a particular interest in the progress of the battle of the sexes. His 'blokesongs' are seasoned dispatches from behind the lines, where Fred frequently scouted (with copies of Ovid and Juvenal in his rucksack). Kingsley Amis's Welsh traveling salesman Dai Evans — another glorious bloke — would have enjoyed lifting a few pints with Fred, his elder and worldlier comrade-in-arms. Old Fred clearly won more battles than he lost, but to Conquest go the spoils!" —David Yezzi"Conquest's formidable reputation as a historian ... should not distract from his parallel achievement as a poet, critic and cultural arbiter who had his first poems published in 1937 ... Here Conquest restricts himself to straightforward four-line stanzas with regular rhymes and jaunty metres, a deceptively simple form that gives immediate pleasure and is naggingly memorable ... This is ... a very entertaining and sprightly collection."—David Collard