I have to say that - in my view - whatever methods are used to get Barry
MacSweeney's excellent poetry out to a greater public are okay, as long as
they are not so ill-judged (e.g. the infamous nomination to the Oxford
Chair of Poetry in the 60s) as to rebound on the author's future
credibility. The current Bloodaxe cover is okay in this context. Better a
bad cover and more readers (and hopefully repeat readers) than minimal
sales to the already converted.
I confess to being slightly puzzled by the adverse reaction to the
rear-cover text, which I should think BM approved (?) and which is after
all no more than, and no less than, the truth. Tawdry phraseology perhaps,
but it doesn't bug me anymore than, say, commissioned blurbs from famous
poets that say little other than "Look who my friends are!" I'm not in the
least offended by *marketing*.
Also - this is the second good book that Bloodaxe have managed in the last
couple of years (after Roy Fisher's Dow Low Drop - and excluding their
usually good translation series). Who's next? Or was this just another
flash in the pan, BM being a local poet and all?
Tony
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