Canadian Poetry; Wet Ink Books; Canada; Canadian Literature; publishing; www.WetInkBooks.com; Devour; Devour: Art & Lit Canada; Find all of our mags; “Devour” and “The Ambassador” –www.issuu.com/richardgrove1/stacks/bc11ecdd1e7646c4b1fac2bb7aef11ef
 

 

Don Gutteridge

 

 
Canadian Poetry; Hidden Brook Press; Canada; Canadian Literature; publishing; www.hiddenbrookpress.com; Devour; Devour: Art & Lit Canada; Find all of our mags; “Devour” and “The Ambassador” –www.issuu.com/richardgrove1/stacks/bc11ecdd1e7646c4b1fac2bb7aef11ef
 

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A joyous, candid, intimate observation of childhood memories…Gutteridge dazzles the reader with heartwarming boyhood reminiscences in his striking latest, Going For the Grail -A Childhood in Rhyme. a meditation on childhood, memory, and past long-gone. He sets the stage in the opening poem: “My childhood was as happy/ as the grass that hued in green/ profusion on grandfather’s lawn/ and I spent my days in a/ kind of wild beguilement.” The poems in the collection are crowded with moments seen, felt, and processed, dense with allusions to country life, culture of long-gone yesterday, as well as adolescent curiosity about opposite sex and newly-arisen sexual desires. Gutteridge doesn’t uncover hidden secrets of the past or clarify what had been obscure., but is more drawn to reminiscing about the long-gone boyhood days He writes about going hunting with his father as a young boy and his silent gratitude at missing his mar, and he narrates stories of his father teaching him fishing and skating. There is religion with its memories of Easter, Sunday school and a youth’s conflicted feelings about religion and lust, the universal youthful curiosity about the female body, and meditations on love, with several girls almost becoming characters in his story There is also sadness, a sense of loss that broods over many poems, in recollections of loved ones long-dead, as in remembering his beloved grandmother This insightful and vivid collection promises a fascinating journey, inviting readers to immerse themselves in his rich, at times meandering, but often delightful word of boyhood wonders. So much of what Gutteridge brings in the collection is amazing and rich with meaning, with the poems becoming places in which the reader hopes to get lost. This eloquent celebration of simple joys of childhood deserves to be on every poetry lover’s shelf.

 The Prairies Book Reviews

 

 

Gutteridge delivers a genuine and moving collection that explores a childhood spent in bliss and happiness in his latest, Going For the Grail: A Childhood in Rhyme.. He portrays a solid connection between identity and place that he traces in the language of wistfulness and familiarity: “I was born with a village in my genes/ and the spillage of its sunshine/ settled in my soul, and I walked out/ each memorable morning/ word-perfect and poaching/ poems by any means.” Gutteridge’s gifts of using images and language with surgical precision are also much in evidence here: “Whenever I think of the Point,/ I imagine a place that drew me/ full-blooded into the world,/ where poems grow fantastical/ on trees made lyrical.” Amid the blissful recollections, happy memories, the leisured days of childhood wandering, trepidations of young love, and heads full of lust, the pain of family and friends long- lost forms a steadfast melancholic rhythm: Gutetridge’s intimate candor and musical ear combined with the beautiful memories and melancholic longing for childhood long-spent make this collection all the more poignant. The poems in the collection poignantly instill palpable emotional yearning in readers, taking them into their individual memories of the past. This is a winner.

BookView Reviews

 

 

Gutteridge delivers a genuine and moving collection that explores a childhood spent in bliss and happiness in his latest, Going For the Grail A Childhood in Rhyme. He portrays a solid connection between identity and place that he traces in the language of wistfulness and familiarity. Gutteridge’s gifts of using images and language with surgical precision are also much in evidence here. Amid the blissful recollections, happy memories, the leisured days of childhood wandering, trepidations of young love, and heads full of lust, the pain of family and friends long-lost form a steadfast melancholic rhythm. This is a winner.

Erin Nichole Cochran for Readers’ Favorite

 

 

Going For the Grail -A Childhood in Rhyme, is a joyous, candid, intimate observation of childhood memories. Don Gutteridge dazzles the reader with heart-warming boyhood reminiscences in this striking collection. His warm poems are crowded with moments seen, felt, and processed. They are dense with allusions to country life, culture of a long-gone yesterday, as well as adolescent curiosity about opposite sex and newly-arisen sexual desires. These poems might be called a meditation on childhood, memory, and a past long-gone. This insightful and vivid collection promises a fascinating journey, inviting readers to immerse themselves in his rich, at times meandering, but often delightful word of boyhood wonders. So much of what Gutteridge brings in the collection is amazing and rich with meaning, with the poems becoming places in which the reader hopes to get lost. This eloquent celebration of simple joys of childhood deserves to be on every poetry lover’s shelf.

 The Prairies Book Reviews

 

 

Gutteridge delivers a genuine and moving collection that explores a childhood spent in bliss in this latest collection, Going For the Grail: A Childhood in Rhyme. He portrays a solid connection between identity and place that he traces in the language of wistfulness and familiarity: “I was born with a village in my genes/ and the spillage of its sunshine/ settled in my soul, and I walked out/ each memorable morning/ word-perfect and poaching/ poems by any means.” Gutteridge’s gifts of using images and language with surgical precision are much in evidence throughout the book. Amid the blissful recollections, happy memories, the leisured days of childhood wandering, trepidations of young love, and heads full of lust, the pain of family and friends long- lost forms a steadfast melancholic rhythm. Gutetridge’s intimate candor and musical ear combined with the beautiful memories and melancholic longing for childhood long-spent make this collection all the more poignant. The poems in this poignant collection instil palpable emotional yearning in readers, taking them into their individual memories of the past. This collection is a winner.

BookView Reviews

 

 

Gutteridge brings the reader a genuine and moving collection that explores a childhood spent in bliss and happiness in this latest collection, Going For the Grail: A Childhood in Rhyme. He portrays a solid connection between identity and place that he traces in the language of wistfulness and familiarity. Gutteridge’s gifts of using images and language with surgical precision are also much in evidence here. Amid the blissful recollections, happy memories, the leisured days of childhood wandering, trepidations of young love, and heads full of lust, the pain of family and friends long-lost form a steadfast melancholic rhythm. This is a winner.

Erin Nichole Cochran for Readers’ Favorite

 

 
Canadian Poetry; Wet Ink Books; Canada; Canadian Literature; publishing; www.WetInkBooks.com; Devour; Devour: Art & Lit Canada; Find all of our mags; “Devour” and “The Ambassador” –www.issuu.com/richardgrove1/stacks/bc11ecdd1e7646c4b1fac2bb7aef11ef