Furniture

by Lorraine Mariner

Lorraine Mariner has long been one of the less well-guarded secrets in UK poetry, and her many admirers will be delighted by the appearance of her first full-length collection. Sometimes reading like an unholy alliance of Dorothy Parker, Stevie Smith, and Frank O’Hara—but more often like nothing the reader will have encountered before—Mariner's poetry is sharp, quirky, disarming, disorientating, deceptively skilful, and frequently hilarious. Her gift is to reveal how much of the everyday is purely surreal, and to articulate the strange and fleeting thoughts we often have, but rarely have the nerve or quick-wittedness to voice. Furniture is the work of an exciting and fresh new imagination in contemporary poetry.

Genres: Poetry

44 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jasminwesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my first poetry books, and I wasn't disappointed.

My favourites were:

Furniture.
All of the Jessica Elton poems.
Suntan.
There is nothing wrong with my sister.
Tonight on the streets of New York.

It was definitely a joy to read and would recommend to anyone who enjoys free-verse poetry.

(Edit: Review edited until University Submission.)

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the best of these clever, highly original poems, Loraine Mariner shares her quirky slant on the modern world of work and relationships from texting predictively to assertiveness training to the ideal man. Her poems are often funny but contain a punch of recognition or realization for the reader.

“From now on/my social life will be run/like a high-volume/burger and shake operation.” From now on

“Since discovering that I am due to be married/at a church in Preston on the fifteenth of September/I have decided to never again type my name/ into an Internet search engine...”
My wedding

“Yesterday evening I finished/with my imaginary boyfriend./He knew what I was going to say/before I said it which was top of my list/of reasons why we should end it./My other reasons were as follows:/he always does exactly what I tell him;/nothing in our relationship has ever surprised me; /he has no second name....” Stanley

[Sarah Ziman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Furniture is a quirky, frequently funny, appealingly deadpan collection that feels like life and love advice dispensed by some kind of shoulder-dwelling entity – but is it an angel or a devil? It can be hard to tell. Maybe your imaginary boyfriend IS annoying? Maybe you SHOULD be less forgiving of your friends? You almost certainly shouldn't reach a point at work where you have your own special chair that no one else would dream of sitting in. You should definitely be saying 'Oh, Lorraine Mariner, obviously', when someone asks which poets they should be reading.

[camila · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it

[Liam Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good bit of modern poetry with a female prespecitve

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable 44-page collection of poetry from British poet Lorraine Mariner.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first poetry book I have read. It was so inspiring I wrote my first shockingly bad poem.

[Bel Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good poetry!

[Seojin Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

reading her poems felt like a slower version of doom scrolling that was actually enjoyable