Full Description
Men Who Feed Pigeons brings together seven contrasting but complementary poem sequences by 'this brilliant lyricist of human darkness' (Fiona Sampson) relating to men and different kinds of women's relationships with men. The Anaesthetist is about men at work; The Beautiful Man with the Unpronounceable Name is about someone else's husband; Billy relates to friendship between a man and a woman; Biro is about living next door to a mysterious uncle; The Man in the Quilted Dressing-gown portrays a very particular old man; Ornamental Lakes as Seen from Trains is about a woman and a man she's afraid of; while Shoebill is another sequence about a woman and a man, but quite different from the others. Like all of Selima Hill's work, all seven sequences in this book chart 'extreme experience with a dazzling excess' (Deryn Rees-Jones), with startling humour and surprising combinations of homely and outlandish. Shortlisted for the 2021 Forward Prize for Best Collection.
Contents
The Anaesthetist
19 The Anaesthetist
19 The Banker
19 The Care Worker
20 The Chauffeur
20 The Childhood Sweetheart
20 The Classics Teacher
21 The Cousin
21 The Dancer
21 The Dentist
22 The Doctor
22 The Doctor of Philosophy
22 The Driver
23 The Duke
23 The Entomologist
23 The Ex
24 The Farmer
24 The Father
24 The Film Director
25 The Finn
25 The Friend
26 The Gardener
26 The Geek
26 The Great-grandfather
27 The History Teacher
27 The Man Who Sits in Saunas
27 The Married Man
28 The Mathematician
28 The Monk
28 The Nurse
29 The Opera Singer
29 The Painter
30 The Patient
30 The Photographer
30 The Poacher
31 The Retired Solicitor
31 The Sailor
31 The Son
32 The Supply Teacher
32 The Tennis Coach
33 The Tennis Player
33 The Tractor Driver
33 The Treasurer
34 The Uncle
The Beautiful Man with the Unpronounceable Name
37 Standing on His Doorstep
37 A Happy-looking Man
38 The Beautiful Man Whose Name I Can't Pronounce
38 Never Go Upstairs in the Daytime
39 In the Tiny House
39 The People Who Still Call Themselves My Loved Ones
40 The Toes of the Woman I've Never Met
40 A Café We Could Go To
40 God's Gift to Wasps
41 A Cup of Tea
41 The Face of the Woman I've Never Met
42 Never Even Hope
42 A Woman, a Cyclist and a Teapot
43 The Nose of the Woman I've Never Met
43 Hating Me Would Be a Waste of Time
44 What Kind of a Woman Am I?
44 The Word Marriage
44 Baby
45 I'm Never Going to Think of Him Again
45 Bicycles and Tricycles
45 Krasznahorkai, Djokovic, Leghorn
46 They Said It Would Be Hard
46 Eating Potatoes in the Shed
47 The Cake
47 European Night Train Guides
48 Spearmint Freshbreath Mouth-freshening Beads
48 I Hear or Think I Hear on Moonlit Nights
Billy
51 My Mother's Extraordinary Hair
51 What It Feels Like to Talk to Him
51 The Plateau Phase
52 Stone
52 Crab
52 Jelly
52 Raging Torrents, Soaring Peaks
53 Rain
53 I Try to Please Everyone
53 The Woman with the Broken Leg
54 Honey
54 Sheep
54 The Sun in All Its Glory
55 His Childhood
55 Romance
55 Restaurant
56 The Long Wait
56 Skinny-dipping
56 The Married Couple
57 The Gents
57 Other Members' Towels
57 Expensive French Cheeses
58 Brandysnaps
58 Everyone Is Watching
58 Friendship
59 As We Leave
59 The Compliment
59 Prawn Cocktails
60 Me and Juan Martín del Potro
60 Doll
60 A New Pair of Fleece-lined Gloves
61 Sitting as Still as I Can
61 Baby
61 The Red-haired Swimmer
62 The Tea Is Cold
62 Fancy Cakes
62 Pain
63 Teabag
63 The Jolly Sailor
63 Shopping
64 My Life as a Pair of Crocs
64 The Extra-large Crab Sandwich
64 The Sea
65 On the Beach
65 Kindness
65 Trolley
66 Dinner
66 Piglets
66 The Surgeon's Ring
66 Walking Back to Happiness
67 Sadness
67 Hollyhock
67 Chihuahuas
68 God
68 The Brunette
68 The Tea Is Never Hot Enough
69 Teddy
69 Chickens
69 Pink-and-white Fairy-cakes
70 Furniture
70 Semolina
70 Buttered Toast
71 The Warmth of the Knife
71 Teapot
71 Sand
72 Midge
72 Cupcake
72 Every Time He Hurts Me I Tell Myself
73 The Man Who Never Smiles
73 Chocolate Pudding
73 His Mother's Dog
74 Table
74 Poodle
74 The Buffalo
75 Bucket
75 What We Need to Think About
75 Hand
76 Corridor
76 The Smile
76 Solutions
77 Photographs of Women with Straight Hair
77 Ammonia
77 In Giant Shorts
78 The Plan
78 Him and Me
78 The Currant Bun
79 A Person Who Is More Amenable
79 Armadillo
79 Giraffes
80 Battleships
80 My Idea of Fun
80 Coffee-pot
81 Thirty Murdered Women
81 Two Bananas and a Frog
81 The Good Fortune of the Man Sitting Opposite Me
82 Badger
82 Mount Fuji
83 Pig
83 My Mother's Car
83 Oxygen
84 Life and Death
84 I Used to Cry
84 Electroencephalographs
85 A Normal Person
85 His New Bobble-hat
85 Prayer
86 Other People's Noses
86 Little Billy
86 Rhinoplasty
87 Golden Sands
87 Hospital
87 A Racehorse Called Rhododendron
88 Sunshine
88 Duty Doctor
88 Profiteroles
89 The Visitor
89 Ears
89 Mother R
90 The Hospital at Night
90 Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro
Biro
93 The Visitor
93 Like a Man Who's Never Been in Love
93 Rectitude
94 My Uncle and Me in the Tobacconist's
94 My Uncle's Drawing-room
95 My Uncle's Kitchen
95 The Billiard Room
96 My Uncle's Bentley
96 My Uncle's Vegetable Garden
97 My Uncle's Blazer
97 Newts
97 A Housekeeper, a Butler and a Horse
98 Brothers
98 The Baths
99 My Uncle's Mother
99 My Uncle Plays the Piano
99 More than Seven European Languages
100 Artichoke
100 Poppet
101 Silverfish
101 Hotel Wellingtonia
102 Doll
102 The King
103 The Illustrated Guide to British Moths
103 Chocolate Sardines
103 Vivarium
104 When Biro Barks
104 Doctor
104 The Bell
105 My Uncle's Horse
105 Cow
106 The Doctor
106 Photograph of a Baby
107 Key
107 The Word Jodhpurs
107 Berries
108 Spiders
108 My So-called Personality Disorder
108 What to Wear on Horseback
109 Fathead
109 My Uncle's Bedroom
110 Cheerfulness
110 Ostriches
The Man in the Quilted Dressing-gown
113 His Hairy Ears
113 His Semolina
114 His Most Precious Possession
114 His Incomparable Picnics
115 His Stony Silence
115 His Slender Ankles
116 His Little Rest
116 His Missing Spectacle-case
117 His Passion for Musicals
117 His Itchy Fingers
117 His Curvy Ladies
118 His Dusty Dressing-gown
118 His Useful Walking-stick
119 His Toasty Socks
119 His Shaky Hands
120 His Love of Opera
120 His Pinks
120 His Starry Nights
121 His Enormous Feet
121 His Victoria Sponge
122 His Big Blue Face
123 His Bushy Hair
123 His Mugs of Coffee
124 His Sticky Florentine
Ornamental Lakes Seen from Trains
127 Sandy Hollows, Godless Pines
127 The Pit of His Stomach
128 His Eyes
128 Californian Waffles
129 Warmth
129 His Hand
130 Man on a Lawn
130 Chickens
130 The Height
131 The Golden Pennies
131 You Either Love a Person or You Don't
132 Sauerkraut
132 Chicken Thigh
132 Windowpane
133 The Eerie Llama
133 The Chair
133 My Horse-hoof Soup
134 Castle
134 Fear of Coffee
135 Wedding Cake
135 The Tank
136 Bitter Chocolates on a Silver Tray
136 The Mourner
137 Why I Love Gyrocopters
137 The Tall Man
138 One Morning in July
138 Ornamental Lakes as Seen from Trains
Shoebill
141 Elbow
141 Snowdrop
142 Hare
142 It's Like a Dream
143 Pig
143 Bird
144 The Wall
144 The Edge of Town
145 Mole
145 Watcher
146 You Hold Me in Your Lap
146 Your Hair Against My Back
147 Fish
147 Skinny as a Rake
148 Sandbag
148 Ugly
149 Like the Flightless Birds
149 Goblin
150 The Love of Your Life
150 Mice
151 The Coat
151 Hands
152 The Hospital in Winter
152 Cats with Spots
153 Suitcase
153 Your Beautiful Long Hair
154 You Tell Me That You Love Me
154 The House
155 The Moth at Night
155 Cake
156 Bedside-locker Pig Farm
156 Frosty Weather
157 Dot
157 Summertime
