Paintbrushes are 'hairy sticks' and a croissant is 'curved'. The 'curved' croissant is well observed and economical but poetically nothing special. The 'hairy sticks', however, is definitely John Hegley. And you don't read his new book for long before you notice that you are reading about dogs, again. Dog, Hegley's last collection, sold 10,000 copies in hardback, which isn't at all bad for a poetry book. He is that rare thing, a bestselling poet, and therefore one of the few poets presently sure of a place not just on the shelves but face out in 'bestsellers' or piled high on a table. He is also a poet you laugh at, usually out loud, so that makes him even more unusual. This new book combines poetry and family memoir. His readership will not be disappointed.
