The Joy Of Bad Verse

by Nicholas Parsons

Hardcover

First published May 16, 1988

About the author

English radio and television presenter and actor; best known today for his long-standing position as host of the comedy radio game show Just a Minute since 1967.

Reviews

[Joelendil]

This book contains far more mockery of bad poets than it does actual bad poetry. The author gives the impression that he may suffer from the same ailment as his subjects: an overinflated sense of his own cleverness. Much of what the author says is amusing and his accounts of popular and critical reception of the poems/poets are frequently funny. However, some of his criticisms seem to be little more than excuses for airing his own political and religious views (e.g. he seems to especially abhor Maragaret Thatcher and regards the idea that a sovereign God and evil can coexist with derision), and some of his ramblings seem to be an excuse to show off how well he can use academic buzzwords and make obscure literary/historical allusions. Overall: I think the book would have benefited from cutting out some of the snarky remarks to make room for more examples of terrible poetry.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly]

Sometimes (Bad Movies We Love) reading about terrible things is a wonderful pleasure. My favourite moments during Fashionable Food occurred when the food was not just fashionable, but also deeply dreadful, for instance. And yet this volume managed to capture the Bad, but not the Joy. It may improve later, but I doubt it, because my problem is not with the bad verse but the dull writing that surrounds it.

So I have stopped reading this, as it does not bring me the pleasure I'd expected—just as I'd stop eating a meal if I didn't care for it. Yes, some people insist one finish everything one begins, whether bad prose or porridge, but not me! Life's too short.

Note: I have written a novel (not yet published), so now I will suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. In my subjective opinion, the stars suggest:

(5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = actually disappointing, and 1* = hated it. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)

[James S.]

Dull, snobbish, and nowhere near as funny as the author seems to think.