A Glass Half Full (2002)
Felix Dennis, of whom I'd honestly never heard until I received this volume, is the controversial and extremely wealthy publisher of Maxim and several other male-oriented magazines. In 1971 he and two compatriots were tried and jailed in Britain for publishing obscene cartoons, but the notoriety and support from folks like John Lennon only seems to have contributed to his eventual fame (or infamy) and fortune.
At any rate, when the bad boy of publishing, a former crack addict most closely identified with scantily clad women, decides to publish a book of poetry you have to anticipate an interesting reaction. Add in his preference for rhyming verse and you can count on no little amount of hostility.
But forget about the author's personal background and give the poems themselves a chance and you're likely to be entertained, maybe even enchanted. The rhyming is just one of the ways in which Mr. Dennis -- who seems too irreverent about himself and too reverent about poetry to care whether folk think of him as a poet -- pays his respects to the form and its practitioners. For instance, he says he wrote his first poem in response to Dorothy Parker's Resume:
Razors pain you;The "And" in line 4, he says, had always worried at him. In turn, he wrote Travel Advisory:
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
Parachutes tangle;That's not going to change your life, but it's clever and respectful. Indeed, one of the nice things about the homages he pays to others is that he sends you scrambling for the originals.
Brake pads fail;
Seat belts strangle;
And trains derail.
Motorbikes maim you;
Ships collide;
New boots lame you;
Stay inside.
(with apologies to Dorothy Parker)
There are, of course, soft spots in a 200 page book of poetry by a novice, but there are also plenty of worthwhile bits, like the sardonic Dead White Males. Many of the pieces are on-line at Mr. Dennis's website, so you can check them out and often access audio versions to hear him read them (the book comes with a spoken-word cd). Keep a weather eye too for his explanatory footnotes which are often amusing. If nothing else, Mr. Dennis seems to be enjoying the heck out of himself. His glass is surely half full.
(Reviewed:31-Oct-04)
Grade: (B)
