When a mystery eye condition made looking at a screen impossible, author Gary Dexter had to rethink how to earn a living. His solution? Learn 100s of famous poems then hit the streets, approaching passers-by and offering to recite their favourite for cash.
His new calling soon drags him far beyond his comfort zone. A woman orders him to 'sway like a daffodil' as he performs Wordsworth's floral classic; a security guard marches him out of Primark while he defiantly intones Invictus ('I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL'); a drunk soldier mourning a fallen comrade in Afghanistan requests Auden's 'Funeral Blues' but turns nasty when the nervous performer fluffs a line.
In a series of remarkable, eye-opening encounters, Dexter finds out which poems people really love, and why. The result is an authentic, funny and original twist on a familiar format -- a poetry collection for our times.
