Silences And Nonsenses Paperback

Thousands of people have been moved to re-examine themselves after listening to Adrian Plass perform. His verse always prompts a response as we are led to laugh at ourselves, alter our preconceived ideas, or cry out to God in gratitude for the life he has given to us. Funny, poignant, challenging and downright hysterical – these poems will delight readers. As Plass himself says, 'To have them all, good, not so good, simple, complicated, light-hearted, funny, serious, sensible and silly collected into one volume is more exciting than I can say'. This is probably a volume best dipped into at random, rather than read from start to finish, as although there is a chronological ordering with pieces grouped in sections from 1985 onwards, each section has a very mixed feel and the contents range from the playful and silly to the deeply serious, from reflective and devotional, to baffled and questioning.

One of Adrian's great gifts is making us smile and wince at the same time. His humour disarms us and then delivers a blow to the solar plexus as our foibles and compromises are exposed. Funny, poignant, challenging and downright hysterical - these poems will delight readers. Some were born from times of incredible personal difficulty. Others have come from his visits to dangerous and poor parts of the world. Others come from his love affair with the Church. All of them reflect the man, his faith, his life and his joy. Terrific stuff, with my only wish that the detail and delivery were of a better finish from Authentic as publishers.