Tails & Tales
John Manesis
Poetry
August, 2020
Buy on Amazon
Paperback $12.00
About the Book
A collection of cat poems based on 50 years experience with family pets, news items, felines in movies and famous cats in literature.
My Review
Manesis creates his latest book of 75 poems from the stuff of literature, history, film, fables and children’s stories. Some are short, a single stanza, and some cross the fold. Many follow a particular rhyme pattern and all are lyrical and pithy.
The poems all feature cats either famous by history, fable, or personal experience, such as “Cleo”: My wife and I inherited another cat…” which leads one to question “inherit”? “another”? but follows the tale of pet treatment battlelines. Another riffs on a scene from The Third Man, where a calico cat helps “out” a presumed victim. Scattered throughout are quotes from the likes of Dickens, Twain, and even da Vinci.
Poetry is often so personal it makes a reader feel like a voyeur, but Tails & Tales happily converts history, present day headlines, word play, and family into a joy ride of cats through pop culture. A very fun and appreciative Author’s Note at the end helps the reader put deeper perspective about particular poems, such as Manesis’s double take on “Puss ’n Boots.” Lots of fun for poetry and cat lovers.
About the Author
John Manesis, born in Eu Claire, Wisconsin, graduated from medical school in 1962 and practiced internal medicine and diagnostic radiology until his retirement in 1996. His poetry has appeared in over 100 literary publications, including many anthologies, and he has also published a children’s story, Greenie and the Tree Frog. He and his wife Bess have two sons and two daughters.
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