Dead Cat Bounce: New & Selected Poems

John Carey possesses a wicked, intelligent sense of humour and a deft feel for the play of language. His poetry is a finely calibrated device for detecting and skewering absurtidy, cant, hypocrisy, humbug, mendacity, and institutional cruelty. Underlying the fun is the humanist's lament that we should and could be better than this. Though overshadowed by his satires, this New and Selected also contains lyrical and personal poems which are acutely affecting. - Brook Emery

John Carey writes a richly communal poetry, full of glimpses of the absurdity of our social lives. These poems are both playful and wise, moving from a surprising hilarity to a compassionate seriousness that re-envisions our world, until we see it with fresh eyes. Dead Cat Bounce includes all of Carey's most memorable work - poems to be savoured, shared and treasured. - Andy Kissane

John Carey is a Sydney poet, ex-teacher of French and Latin and a former part-time actor. The latest of his five collections is Duck Soup & Swansongs (Ginninderra Press 2018)