Poetry my arse - Brendan Kennelly

Kennelly followed his shocking epic poem Cromwell with the even more notorious Book of Judas, which topped the Irish bestsellers list. This new piece of mischief out-Judases Cromwell, sinking its teeth into the pants of poetry itself. Here, the author plays devil's advocate, exploring the 'poetryworlds' of one Ace de Horner who is slowly going blind. Helped by his uglyjoe dog, Kanooce, and by a woman, Janey Mary, Ace thinks he is connecting the fragments of his life a little more convincingly. Not so! As the poem digs into Ace's vanity, visions, fantasies, failures, dedication and absurdity, the reader is aware of Ace's frustration in his efforts to relate to poetry, to his jocular distortions of language and to his pained perspective on the world.