In the last book he completed before he died, Clive James offers a personal guide to the poems he found it impossible to forget.
Clive James was the multi-million-copy bestselling author of more than forty books. His poetry collection Sentenced to Life and his translation of Dante's The Divine Comedy were both Sunday Times top ten bestsellers, and his collections of verse were shortlisted for many prizes. In 2012 he was appointed CBE and in 2013 an Officer of the Order of Australia. He died in 2019.
A treasure trove of poetic pleasure
*The Times*
The Fire of Joy is a proper pleasure. Fun and fight-picking, wise
and persuasive. James loves a layman and, by the end, the layman
certainly loves James . . . “It’s a dipper,” said my husband,
reading over my shoulder. If I wasn’t on review duty, that’s the
way I’d read it: dipping in at random, at bedtime, a poem a
night.
*The Times*
The Fire of Joy is a set of personal, quintessentially Jamesian
commentaries on 80 of his favourite poems.
*Guardian*
A must for anthology lovers . . . The late, great critic and poet
doesn't so much look forward as back; these are old favourites
(Byron, Wordsworth, Masefield, Owen) from a lifetime’s reading,
with personal notes on each one. I found it moving as well as a
joy.
*Daily Mail*
A wonderful anthology of 80 or so poems to memorise and read aloud,
selected by the late critic and humorist Clive James. Enjoy the
poems and his witty, opinionated mini-essays about his choices.
*The Times Best Books of 2020 So Far…*
Clive James’s joyous farewell . . . from Thomas Wyatt to Carol Ann
Duffy, this valedictory volume features 80 poems he learned and
loved, each accompanied by an essay to persuade us of their
brilliance.
*Guardian, Best Poetry of 2020*
Clive James was so prolific that he’s still publishing books a year
after his death . . . [These] are poems to “murmur under your
breath at the bus stop, declaim aloud in the bath, roar from the
rooftops”.
*The Times, Best Literary Non-fiction Books of the Year 2020*
A book to lighten the darkness . . . What links them all [the
selected poems] are Clive James’ typically witty, sometimes
abrasive and always passionate comments. It’s a book to dip into
and ponder in this bleak midwinter.
*Tablet*
Extraordinarily cogent . . . I have read many old men’s books over
the years, and even the best writers often lose their flavour . . .
But this book shows no diminution whatever of James’s talents, and
it’s fueled by his obvious love of the form.
*Spectator*
[This book] is full of boisterous life . . . His farewell is funny,
intellectually sharp and a faithful companion for this age of
turmoil and uncertainty . . . [it] rings and rhymes with passion
and learning from a big brain who found room in his soul for poetry
and in his heart for the contentment it can bring in good times and
the solace it carries in bad times.
*Herald*
The context of [this book's] composition is inescapable and each
choice seems more moving in light of James’ impending demise . . .
The Fire of Joy is a generous and genial valediction from one of
Australia’s most famous wits.
*Sydney Morning Herald*
A deeply affecting book that blends autobiography with literary
criticism, and is filled with James’s trademark breezy erudition
and wit . . . It is indeed a joy to read, and savour.
*Weekend Australian*
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