From Booklist
Little known in America, Greig is considered one of Scotland's finest writers, whose poetry is of the most evocative kind. He addresses the big issues (life, love, and death) and also such topics as mountain climbing and historic events ("A Flame in Your Heart" is about the Battle of Britain). He also has a fine way with the smaller moments in life. A strong sense of place imbues many of his poems of Scotland, which range from Galloway in the southwest to the far northern islands of Orkney and Shetland. His influences are diverse, including mountain climber Dougal Haston, the great Scots poet Hugh MacDiarmid, and sixties icon Bob Dylan. He can be moody and remarkably precise ("love / the name / howled by night / at city crossroads") and can tellingly touch on Scottish identity in the twenty-first century and such stubborn national traits as a propensity to drink. This large, lovely collection gives Americans a welcome chance to meet one of Scotland's best poets.
June SawyersCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
'Andrew Greig is a Scottish poet of sensitivity and resilience. He deals with high-risk situations - from mountaineering to love - and is particularly good at presenting the gamut of feelings involved in rites of passage: high endeavour, commitment, holding back, drift, release' - Edwin Morgan. 'When I first read the poems, I started writing down the ones I was really impressed by, but I gave that up after I'd written down 4 of the first 5. I doubt if there is a weak one in the collection. They interest me for their subject-matter and use of it - very subtle, often very unexpected, always on a nicely serious level, not without wit' - Norman MacCaig 'It is now a commonplace to say that most exciting new writing comes from north of the Border. If further proof were needed, Greig provides it' - Erica Wagner, The Times. 'A lyric poet of rare gusto' - Peter Porter, Observer 'I regret to say my students prefer your Western Swing to Gunslinger' - Ed Dorn.
