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The Book with Twelve TalesJohn Gallas![]() 10% off all versions
Categories: 21st Century
Imprint: Carcanet Poetry Publisher: Carcanet Press Available as: Paperback (112 pages) (Pub. Jan 2008) 9781857548754 £9.95 £8.96 eBook (EPUB) Needs ADE! (Pub. Jan 2008) 9781847777935 £9.95 £8.96 To use the EPUB version, you will need to have Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) installed on your device. You can find out more at https://www.adobe.com/uk/solutions/ebook/digital-editions.html. Please do not purchase this version if you do not have and are not prepared to install, Adobe Digital Editions.
How does a drive of grovelling ermine grab you?
And a front door in the shape of two nubile walrusettes holding the midnight sun aloft and laughing haha? And a hall heavier than an ice-floe featuring wallpaper made out of polar bears, crossed fulmar and a chandelier of a hundred and sixty decapitated caribou? from 'Rich'
The Book with Twelve Tales is a gallimaufry of stories: comic, frightening, exotic and magical. Here, in John Gallas's richly imagined narrative worlds, are the American gothic of Morten Mortenssen, the pig who eats his owners; the sexual folktale of a comedy of Mongolian marriage; a fable of the power of the imagination as a poet is interrogated by a president. Then there is the terrifying Arctic potentate Zigismund Walrus in his nightmare palace of ice, and the true adventure of the author and Turkish rabies. Gallas's exuberant language draws the reader into twists of plot and dialogue, through tales of evil and violence, love and generosity that reaffirm the power of humour and the value of shared wisdoms.
Cover image Albrecht Durer, Head of a Walrus, 1521 (copyright the British Museum). Cover design by www.StephenRaw.com. Morten Mortenssen the Fat Pig The Mongolian Economy Rich The Ballad of Lucky Razek The Suspicious Llama The Tale of Tales The Monkey’s Dilemma President Kala and Imi the Poet Ao the Kiwi The Tale of Lawrence of Arabia post mortem The Ferret of Shalott Rabies!
Praise for John Gallas
'John Gallas is not merely a lyric master, but a master of meaning... The Extasie is a collection that I feel I will be coming back to frequently, not just to recapture the enjoyment I had when first reading it, but also to fully bathe in the complex understanding of love in all its forms, rendered so skilfully in poems that reward a second reading with subtle epiphanies.'
Ed Bedford, Coffee Time Reviews 'This is a book for contemplative reading to enjoy all its richness and subtleties. Quietly thought provoking and intelligent, these are poems that celebrate the messiness of life.' - Mary Mulholland, The Alchemy Spoon 'An enticing and timely collection of translations.' - The Guardian |
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