| Title | : | So Much For Life |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781643621784 |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 |
| Publication | : | First published May 16, 2023 |
Scarcely published in his lifetime, Hyatt’s work survives thanks to the intervention of poets and friends who saved his manuscripts and kept his poems in circulation. Queer in the decades before Gay Liberation; Romani; incarcerated in prisons and asylums; illiterate into adulthood: it’s tempting to read Hyatt according to the familiar script of the doomed poet, resounding with loneliness and isolation. But his poetry―“hot and tender,” funny and sad―tells another story: of love, liberatory commitment, and desire.
So Much For Life Reviews
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finally some good poetry
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Some of the best poetry I've ever read. It's a book that will always stay with me.
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“
And if you don’t know what human means
well!
it’s shattering
“
Truly truly incredible collection of poems. Mark Hyatt may be my new favourite poet, these works are honestly outstanding.
Illiterate for much of his life, many of these poems are dictated or edited and proofread by friends of Mark. Very few of his pieces were ever published during his lifetime and of those none were particularly celebrated or known - just in very small local papers and such. Details of Marks difficult life are described in the editors introduction, with much implied also in his work - all of the adversity faced, the lack of training, and above all Hyatts illiteracy make the fluency of his poems unbelievable. The pain of his life comes bleeding through in many poems, but so does his absolute love of life and people. So much beauty and disgust is contained within this book. Often centralised around the experience of living as an openly sensual and loving queer man (“Of course sex is making love,”) in a time and space of hate (“what is it in these eyes that burn? the knowledge of tragedy.”)
If I hadn’t read the biopic introduction I would never in a million years have thought that Hyatt was anything but a much celebrated lifelong author and poet.
Anyone that wants to borrow this collection please hit me up - every poem is beautifully crafted and impactful. -
At times heavy, then funny, then plain human. Loved this. Also loved loved loved getting to know Mark Hyatt in the preface, beautiful portrait.
