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Book of Matches (Paperback)

by Simon Armitage (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
Price: £5.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Book of Matches + Kid + Selected Poems
Price For All Three: £17.82

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  • This item: Book of Matches by Simon Armitage

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Kid by Simon Armitage

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  • Selected Poems by Simon Armitage

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Product details

  • Paperback: 64 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber (3 Sep 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571169821
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571169825
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.6 x 0.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 33,409 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #5 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > A > Armitage, Simon

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Product Description

Product Description

Losing none of the exuberance and verbal agility which have become a hallmark of Simon Armitage's poetry, these poems are more obviously personal - the ensuing risks, of vulnerability and exposure, more dangerous. The poems mark a coming-of-age of a poet who is by now established as a leading voice. The book is arranged in three sections. The first part, the "Book of Matches", is a series of sonnets. Each poem is designed to relay the urgency of a struck match, packed with discoveries, flashes of insights on family and life. The poems in the middle section, "Becoming of Age" relate incidents, from other times, other lives and experiences, to a common life. The final section, "Reading the Bans", is a moving sequence of poems on the poet's marriage.

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Book of Matches
66% buy the item featured on this page:
Book of Matches 4.7 out of 5 stars (3)
£5.98
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars breathtaking, 14 May 2002
By S. Murphy (Worcester) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
'To his lost Lover' brought myself and my lover together. I have never been more inspired, made jelly-legged and envious of a poet. These poems seem straight forward but they are subtly layered, like slate which whilst seeming thin is actually made up of a myriad carefully arranged skins. Brilliant!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Elvis of Poetry...., 28 Jul 2008
By Neil "Celtic Soul Boy" (Ipswich, England) - See all my reviews
I think this is one of the best poetry collections of the last 30 yrs.

The opening salvo of 'My party piece' is a spine-chiller and through to the last piece in that section describing a burnt-out Armitage in self-destruct mode sitting in his car- this is a modern classic which taps the Zeitgeist in a way only he can.

And I have to agree with the other reviewer about To a lost lover - your toes curl at the combination of intimacy, sensitivity and agonising regret.

Someone once said that 'poetry is the new rock n'roll' - if Elvis were alive today he would be writing poetry like this...

Thank you Simon.

Neil

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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars a breath of fresh air, 26 Oct 2000
By A Customer
at last a contemporary poet who has managed to combine a unique voice with such outdated notions as craft and technique. perhaps he can lead us out of the waste land poetry has become mired as it is with all those recent meaningless... poets.
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