The Even More Complete Book of Australian Verse

by John Clarke

This new edition of "The Complete Book of Australian Verse" by John Clarke contains 20 new satirical poems by fictional authors such as Anne Bonkford, Ted Cruise, Miloslab Holden, Gavin Milton, Very Manly Hopkins, Leonard Con and Ezekiel Mad.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information. This is John^^Clarke.

John Clarke (29 July 1948 – 9 April 2017) was a New Zealand–born comedian, writer, and satirist. He was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand, and lived in Australia from the late 1970s. He was a highly regarded actor and writer whose work appeared on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in both radio and television and also in print.

Reviews

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Clarke was one of Australia's most beloved satirists. This short volume imagines a host of Australian poets that could have been, using parodies of famous poets from abroad. There's Thomas 'The Tank' Hardy, Very Manly Hopkins, Rabbi Burns, R.A.C.V Milne (you have to be Australian to get that joke), b.b. hummings, Nob Dylan, and many more.

It's thoroughly silly, rather in the style of those mid-20th century revues and periodicals that were humorous more for the shared laughs in the moment than for any kind of lasting impact (and some of the 'contemporary' poetic parodies will fade faster than the classic ones). Still, it's a reminder of a unique comic voice - and a neat hat-tip to intellectual Australia's conflicted relationship with our mother culture .

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the poems are of a particular time in Australian politics so some of the meaning is lost 20-30 years later unless one is familiar with them (which I am not except very broadly), but overall this is bloody good stuff. Even better is the audio recording by John of these poems - they often sound better in his voice. Check out his Bandcamp page for the album. You'll be missed, Mr Clarke.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Even More Complete Book of Australian Verse John Clarke, one of the great satirists, turns his attention to poetry and reveals how nearly all of the world's great poets were really Australian. He presents selections from the works of literary legends such as Rabbi Burns, Very Manly Hopkins, b.b. hummings and Carol Lewis (renowned author of Alison Wonderland and Who are You Looking At?).

The book has been through a few editions from 1989 to 2003, so some of the target's of Clarke's satire may be a bit obscure to a contemporary audience, and might make little sense to a audience not au fait with Australian politics and sport. I'm not a huge poetry reader but recognised enough of the references to get a lot of belly laughs; those more familiar with the poetry that Clarke is lampooning will get a lot more out of it.

[Anna Hepworth]

I've classified this as abandoned/unfinished as part of my 2018 amnesty on trying to finish everything I've started. It isn't a commentary on this book, but more that I have over 30 books 'currently reading' and I want to get that down to two (one fiction, one non-fiction). I'll be putting this disclaimer on a number of books :(

Also, it was returned to its rightful owner, and it will be a while before I get my hands on that or any other copy.