A Pocketful of Scars by Laird Lee Kirk

Laird Lee Kirk’s fabulous book of human poetry is now live for sale!

I’m so happy to have been able to bring you this book and I hope you enjoy it every bit as much as I have. Let’s have a look at what the introduction to the book has to say about this fantastic collection:

Laird Lee Kirk, as he likes to be known, is a Gregory Corso beat genius for the Scottish urban Twitter generation. His simple, forceful verse pushes into the abstract reaches of the everyday and brings out the sublime absurdity and the nascent hysteria that lingers there. Bubbling just under the surface of every poem is a quiet breakdown, a flood of humanity in the cold, detached voice of jaded youth.
This chapbook, these sixteen simple poems, speaks to a very real set of human experiences. Rooted firmly in the everyday, they pulse up in flowers at the most unexpected places. Perhaps Kirk has played the beats over in his own head as he was writing this, or perhaps he is naturally attuned to the sensitivities of an overabundance of life, but either way he has constructed a riveting suite of poems that deserve a thorough reading and a life of their own.
I hope you enjoy these poems as much as I have. I hope some of their convivial snark leaves a lasting impression and helps you to make sense of the lunacy of modern life. But most of all, I hope you read and enjoy as these poems are meant to be enjoyed. They are celebrations of humanity in all its flawed beauty and that is something worth enjoying.

You can get a copy of the book from Amazon here or, to order copies direct from LJMcD Communications, just email lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com with your order details. Orders of more than on LJMcD Communications book usually result in a reduced price and combined shipping. Have a look at what’s on offer here

Anyway, get Kirk’s book, have a read, and lose yourself in the fantastic glow of his words!

Review: Popism – the Andy Warhol Sixties by Andy Warhol and Pat Hackett

Brilliant trek back to heyday of pop and wild world of freaks and weirdos that went along with it. Dry, conversational style reads like good phone gossip just like Andy would have wanted. Riveted start to finish. Reads Chelsea Girls style like slice of gritty life through dark shades of glamour (a tight, striped t-shirt – we get the fashion updates along with the rest – Nico crying technicolour).

Name dropping comes thick and fast – sometimes tedious, especially in the more obscure cases. Otherwise, well tailored talk of eccentrics and art world mainstays – we talk of Edie Sedgwick, Ondine, Paul Morrisey along with Capote, Rauschenberg, and Picasso- effortless pop blend of street kids running amphetamine kicks along with respected old fogeys. It is art along all lines running seamless between the met and police raid for pornography.

In its own oblique way, book serves as explication and veiled manifesto for the whole pop mentality. Everyone is a star they just act it – we run vacuous and deep. Never put it down your throat, but savvy reader gets the gimmick. “Just where do you get your money?”

All crashes down with the big shot by Valerie Solanis and slow dissolution of sixties mentality. Passing of an era marred by depression of wild young things burn out to various bitter ends and sad postscript of death. Inevitable, I suppose, but makes for poignant end a to wonderful book.

Do I recommend? Certainly. For knowledgeable reader and casual acquaintance alike – we live the New York sixties through words of an icon and feel the gritty glamour come solid. I really like this book.