The Book of Love

Roddy Lumsden's first collection, Yeah Yeah Yeah (available from Dufour), was shortlisted for both the Forward and Saltire prizes. These new poems eavesdrop on a half urban, half surreal world of ladies, men, and misfits, trying on roles and acting out fantasies. The Book of Love is a celebration of love in all its delightful perversity, whose characters include a randy actor, a vinegar addict, and couples courting in a cupboard, covered with marmalade. As voyeurs sneak into one poem, naturists streak across another, and there is the inevitable lurking presence of the poet's own (rich but square) alter ego.