
The Disguise
Poems 1977-2001
Charles Boyle(Author)
Christopher Reid(Editor)
Carcanet Press Ltd
Published on 25. February 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
160 pages
978-1-80017-028-5 (ISBN)
Description
The acclaimed poet Christopher Reid distils Charles Boyle's six books of poems into The Disguise: Poems 1977-2001, recovering a notable one-time poet, now known as a publisher and writer of fiction and non-fiction, from poetic neglect.
Charles Boyle established a reputation as a sharp, wry, disabused observer of social mores. Paleface, published by Faber, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize, and The Age of Cardboard and String, also from Faber, was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Whitbread Award. But in 2001 the well ran dry. Since the first year of the twenty-first century he has not put poetic pen to paper even once. The poems remain vital and fascinating, but they have about them also a kind of archaic cast: here we find the quintessential white male Englishness from the late twentieth century on display as if in a museum. Here too is the excitement of abroad (North Africa especially), and there are ghosts, absences, exile and evasions: in hindsight, these poems offer clues to their own disappearance after thirty notable years spent partly in the sun.
Charles Boyle established a reputation as a sharp, wry, disabused observer of social mores. Paleface, published by Faber, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize, and The Age of Cardboard and String, also from Faber, was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Whitbread Award. But in 2001 the well ran dry. Since the first year of the twenty-first century he has not put poetic pen to paper even once. The poems remain vital and fascinating, but they have about them also a kind of archaic cast: here we find the quintessential white male Englishness from the late twentieth century on display as if in a museum. Here too is the excitement of abroad (North Africa especially), and there are ghosts, absences, exile and evasions: in hindsight, these poems offer clues to their own disappearance after thirty notable years spent partly in the sun.
Reviews / Votes
'This is the business. From the start, you realise that you are in the presence of a sharp, subversive and observant intelligence, a writer with an ear for a story and the easy narrative manner of someone who - it comes as an instant relief to notice this - isn't going to bore you once.' - Nicholas Lezard, The GuardianMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Manchester
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
191 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80017-028-5 (9781800170285)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2021
Carcanet Poetry
€12.47
Available for download
Persons
Charles Boyle was born in Leeds in 1951. Between 1977 and 2001 he published six collections of poetry; he has also written fiction and non- fiction under the pen names Jennie Walker and Jack Robinson. In 2007 he founded the small press CB editions.; Christopher Reid is a former poetry editor at Faber and Faber and editor of the Selected Letters of Ted Hughes. His many collections of poetry include A Scattering, winner of the Costa Book Award in 2011.