In the prologue of Planet-Shaped Horse there is a reference to Client 1764's first collection of short stories, published by Charlie Horse Books. The question everybody [would be asking were the book available yet and they bought it and read it] is 'What kind of stories are they? What if this were an alternative universe where Client 1764 had written the pamphlet about you? How about you imagine that's the case, and you write one of them and then post it, having spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to format it so that it looks like a pamphlet and then photographing it? It would be delightfully whimsical and not a waste of time!' To which I respond: 'I'm actually quite busy.' And then everybody says, 'Oh, go on.' And I say, 'Okay then. I'll start with a made-up publisher's statement.' And then everybody says, 'HA! We tricked you! We don't care about your pamphlet, let alone an imaginary one you just made up.' And I say, 'Well, it's too late now,' and feed it to the vortex of your unintererst.
PUBLISHER'S STATEMENT:
When the MS for TL/DR arrived, I realised I had found a rare and disciplined talent in ____ ________. These short-stories-in-verse or "poem proses" represent a slap in the face to anyone who believes that poetry needn't adhere to strict form. What ________ demands is not only that poetry shrug off the lacklustre dullness of vers-libre, but that prose also adopts the ten syllable line. And if it doesn't we'll both be REALLY UPSET.
For the first time outside of its limited print run, I present the opening 'story-in-verse' from TL/DR, 'The Drunken Navigator'. This is the last time I do this and the other Exclusive Bonus Content will be much more fun. That's a promise.
