On Friday, I attended a small private London launch for the second edition of a book by my friend and former boss, David Allen. His methodology has been the key to creating the space in my life for poetry amidst a dynamic career in technology and management consulting, and a generally full trans-Atlantic life.
Having sold more than two million copies of his Getting Things Done book in nearly 30 languages, I jokingly asked over lunch for any tips on avoiding hand cramp when signing great numbers of books at once. Pre-orders for my debut full-length poetry collection The Knowledge have, after all, been rolling in.
That afternoon, I got the good news that books had arrived from the printer, and whizzed up to meet my publisher Jane in Milton Keynes, the preferred halfway point between where we both live. Despite the appearance of Milton in the name, I find Milton Keynes to be one of the least poetic cities in Britain–essentially England’s answer to Orange County. And so it was in a coffee chain store inside a glass-and-steel mall that I first laid hands on this beautiful book.
What can I say? It is a lovely object. Small but important details that I couldn’t have gleaned from the PDF galley–like the way in which facing-page poems interrelate thanks to expert pagination–surprised and impressed me. The entire experience of working with Jane has had a ring of rightness about it, and the finished product feels good in so many way, including tactilely–from the French flaps to the sturdy off-white pages to the matte-finish cover.
I am looking forward to my launch tour next week–Wenlock, Cheltenham, then New York. What a pleasure it will be to read from this lovingly-produced new book.
If you would like to hold a copy in your own hands, you can order it here.