A Long Weekend on the Sofa

Kenny Knight’s second collection offers more explorations of his Plymouth childhood and the absurdities, as well as the joys, of his adult years. He is still amazed by the fact that Lobsang Rampa was a plumber from Plympton, by the roster of bands he saw at the fabled Van Dike Club, and by the vibrancy of the more recent local literary scene. The author’s keen eye and gentle, deadpan sense of humour make these poems as memorable as those in The Honicknowle Book of the Dead. "This is a book that appeals to people like me—denizens of the remoter regions of contemporary poetry, but would also appeal to the fabled ‘general reader’. It’s a book that should be stacked high in Waterstone’s and advertised on TV, because it’s poetry which manages to be genuinely popular without in any way sacrificing its integrity." —Alan Baker "It is the most affectionate collection—warm, deliciously funny, clear, evocative ad intensely moving in the way it invokes the past so skilfully. It’s a real very honest hymn of praise for Plymouth. […] I love the Surrealist touches, the perfect placing of the names of people and places, the wild placing of references next to each other—but above all the tenderness—it’s a happy book to read." —Harry Guest "Kenny Knight’s The Honicknowle Book of the Dead (Shearsman) is an hilarious and nostalgic look at a working class childhood in Plymouth." —Steve Spence, The Morning Star