The Next Hundred Lears
Limericks After Lear Book Two
Published on 18. January 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
132 pages
978-0-6489059-4-3 (ISBN)
Description
Edward Lear is remembered, and rightly so, as the Father of the Limerick. Were it not for him, this little five line verse form may never have become such a beloved, ubiquitous part of our literary and popular culture.
Yet the very thing that makes the limerick so appealing held no appeal for Edward Lear. The final line of his verses brought no twist, and sought no giggle. It was a summing up, and nothing more.
But Lear had opened Victorian eyes to the possibilities inherent in the limerick: A Book of Nonsense was a runaway bestseller.
In 1872 Lear published one hundred new limericks, hoping to repeat his earlier success. But while his original verses are still fondly remembered today, still anthologised, still quoted in mainstream and social media, his next hundred limericks are unknown.
Why?
Because the limerick had moved on without him, acquiring a life of its own and romping towards the twentieth century with outlandish, irreverent and often obscene delight.
And Lear couldn't follow. It just wasn't in his nature to go there. So having launched the boat, he now stood alone on the dock and watched it sail off into the distance.
Limericks After Lear breathes new life into Edward Lear's creations. Book One, The Fifth Line, took A Book of Nonsense as its starting point and sent all 112 verses off in new directions.
Book Two retrieves those lost, forgotten verses of 1872 and presents them complete: all 100 of Lear's originals, plus a brand new limerick for each that, I hope, will make you giggle.
They're family-friendly, too :)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Australia
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 7 mm
Weight
149 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-6489059-4-3 (9780648905943)
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
Persons
John Arthur Nichol hates writing about himself in the third person, so I won't do that.I was born in a hospital named for a king, which now forms part of a hospital named for a prince, and I assume both will be subsumed one day in a hospital named for a robber baron, of whom Sydney's had plenty.67 years later I've worked out what I want to do with my life, and it's something I've been doing all along. I write in verse. I'm not calling it poetry, but I write in verse. I can't help it. Verse happens all day long in my head as my thoughts mould to the flow of half-remembered melodies. English nags me with its rhythms; and if that's not bad enough, I'm compelled to rhyme.So that's who I am and what I do. It's taken a lifetime to recognise it, accept it, and work out what to do about it.I thought for a time that picture books must be the vessel to carry my stories written in verse, so Sascha Martin's Rocket-Ship, Time Machine and Super Ball, respectively, appeared with the beautiful illustrations of Manuela Pentangelo.But the more I wrote ... the more I wrote. The more I wrote, the more I enjoyed it. And the more I understood my needs and my intention.I wasn't writing picture books.I was writing stories that made me smile. I think they make other people smile as well. Not everyone. Just the people who get what I'm doing and who enjoy a smile.They're the ones I'm writing for. And me, of course.So, text is my medium, my stories are in verse that rhymes, my audience is older kids, grown-ups, family, but only the ones who like rhyming smiles. And the format is regular paperback.Just the facts, Ma'am ...1955: Born in Sydney. 65 years of stony sleep ...2020: Retired. New website for my writing. 2022: Epiphany. New website MK II for my writing. Torn between two websites (feeling like a fool). Still writing in verse. Still smiling.