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A sparkling, tongue‑in‑cheek verse collection takes listeners on a whirlwind tour of the book‑making world, where every new title battles for attention amid a flood of sensational headlines. With rapid couplets that riff on Shakespeare, Dante, Dumas and contemporary best‑sellers, the poet sketches a bustling marketplace of ideas, critiques, and endless advertising. The rhythm is bright and relentless, echoing the classic Rubaiyat while turning its form into a modern commentary on how stories are bought, sold, and forgotten.
The narrator’s voice is both insider and outsider, playfully lampooning editors, reviewers, and the endless parade of authors whose names flash on dust‑covered shelves. Listeners will enjoy the clever wordplay, the sly nods to literary history, and the vivid portrait of a culture that churns out books faster than readers can keep up. It’s a witty, reflective listening experience for anyone curious about the chaotic charm of the publishing trade.
Language
en
Duration
~18 minutes (17K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Geetu Melwani, Dave Morgan, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.)
Release date
2009-02-25
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1866–1951
Best remembered for the nonsense classic "The Purple Cow," this lively American writer and humorist helped shape the playful spirit of literary San Francisco in the 1890s. He also had a knack for reinvention, moving between poetry, illustration, criticism, and children's books with easy wit.
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