Scrap Irony

by Felicia Lamport, Edward Gorey (Illustrator)

An anthology of witty, sarcastic observations on everything from courtship to vice to the era’s hottest technologies, like cybernetics and space flight.

Genres: Poetry

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[Gemma Laurence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Felicia Lamport was my great aunt on my mother's side and the woman I'm named after (my full name is Gemma Felicia Lamport Laurence) but I'd never actually gotten around to reading her poetry/satire before. You can imagine my surprise when on a mellow Sunday afternoon browsing The Strand in the Lower East Side I stumbled upon a used copy of my great aunt's book (1961 edition!). I read it in a day and was very moved. Scraps of satire and wit, epigrams and poems and a few essays tossed in there too. It wouldn't be the type of writing I'd necessarily pick up and read if left to my own devices, but I'm very glad I did.

[Sarah E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm staying in an Air BnB which has nothing much to recommend it except a wall of books. Old books, new books, cookbooks, self help books, pop-art books, art theory books, literature. It feels like a corner of a really good used book store, but I can see a mind behind the titles: the host didn't buy books by the yard. This is the home of a READER. I want to leave recommendations instead of a proper Air BnB review. (Especially since I have nothing nice to say for the Air BnB review) Have you not heard of T.C.Boyle? Because I believe that you would like him based on the Annie Proulx and Peter Carey and Gary Shteyngart on your shelves (though Lake Success is nowhere near a Russian Debutante's Handbook IMO.) At any rate, I made a really big, terrible life decision that might have been a TOTAL MISTAKE last week and I've been spiralling a little ever since. While I waited for a half xanax to kick in so I could, you know, FUNCTION instead of pacing around going "WHAT HAVE I DONE???!!!" I plucked this book from a pile, recognizing Edward Gorey art in the title on the spine. This is a book that would have kept 12 year old Sarah enthralled, and 41 year old Sarah found it very soothing. Felicia Lamport is a Vassar alum, apparently, of a certain era, (think McCarthy's The Group) who does silly but erudite parodies. There are chapters of verse that are aiming for Dorothy Parker but hit closer to Ogden Nash. There are little prose pieces on language and writing and writers. There's an out-of-place essay that somewhat seriously, if wryly, chronicles the history of dictionaries and the shift from prescriptive to descriptive approaches therein. There's a piece where she parodies Henry James that was very satisfying. My favorite chapter was Vice Verses, where she wrote little poems centered on words with prefixes that aren't used without prefixes: "There never is trouble in finding a spouse/ For the ebriated man with the lapidated house." And of course, there are wonderful illustrations by Edward Gorey on every page. It was light, fun, and readable in 45 minutes. The vocabulary is challenging and kept my mind from wandering back to the ramifications of quitting a job I hated in the middle of a pandemic and the worst unemployment rate since the Great Depression. 12 year old Sarah, buried deep within me as she is, was deeply satisfied. Four stars.

[Jason Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!

[Gabriela Della Corna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this little book!!!!

I would be thrilled to read this with a group someday to do deep dives on certain poems and satire in this — nothing is overly serious—just lovely wordplay and delectable themes!!! I found myself reading some of them out loud in a transatlantic accent, bahaha.

And truly, the satire about Eloise? This book was meant to find its way into my life.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Page 71 : Petition for Redress - 1956

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a delight.

[Genna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly silly and fantastically illustrated.