To a Fault: Poems [Paperback]

Nick Laird (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2007

Winner of the 2005 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature; winner of the 2005 Ireland Chair for Poetry Award; the only poetry book long-listed for the Guardian First Book Award.

"A confident hybrid of voices and styles…tender and brilliant."—Irish Times

Journeying between his native Ulster and his adopted London, Nick Laird balances ideas of home and flight, the need for belonging and the need to remain outside. Dexterous, fresh, and deft, To a Fault does "more, in its range and ambition, than any other first collection…in at least the last ten years" (The Independent).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Uncommonly various, quirky and always intelligent, this poetic debut from Laird (raised in Northern Ireland, now a lawyer in London) comes on the heels of his debut novel, Utterly Monkey (Reviews, Nov. 14). Both attracted deserved plaudits in Britain; this book's verbal gifts, and its mix of city and country topics, could well do the same over here. Ulster sights and Ulster troubles play unmistakable roles in Laird's fluent lines: one poem takes place "at the mythic coast, by the kitchen stove"; another describes a man kneecapped by paramilitaries. As the book proceeds, Irish backgrounds give way to cosmopolitan vocabularies and to the concerns of any adult with a love life. Rhyming poems and other strict forms bid for quotation by all who have felt as Laird does: "Aubade," for example, begins: "Go home. I haven't slept alone/ in weeks and need to reach across/ the sheets to find not warmth but loss." As with Glyn Maxwell and Paul Muldoon (to whom he may be much compared), Laird's facility can shade over into glibness, and his slick forms can conceal their emotional cores. Just as often, though, his hints and phrases reveal a sad, uncertain, likable character. (Apr.)
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About the Author

Nick Laird is the author of the novel Utterly Monkey. His debut poetry collection, To a Fault, was shortlisted for the 2005 Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection. Born in Northern Ireland, Laird lives in New York and London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (October 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393330362
• ISBN-13: 978-0393330366
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,234,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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