Focusing on narrative structure, irony, satire and allusion, The Hidden Hardy offers a radical new perspective on Thomas Hardy's novels. Hardy's own accounts of himself and his work have long been seen as calculated impostures; it is argued here that the same qualities are not only present in his novels, but are critical factors in the way they are made. The respectable and acceptable surfaces are the impostures, masking hidden texts which are extremely hostile to established social, economic and cultural structures.

Focusing on narrative structure, irony, satire and allusion, The Hidden Hardy offers a radical new perspective on Thomas Hardy's novels. Hardy's own accounts of himself and his work have long been seen as calculated impostures; it is argued here that the same qualities are not only present in his novels, but are critical factors in the way they are made. The respectable and acceptable surfaces are the impostures, masking hidden texts which are extremely hostile to established social, economic and cultural structures.

A "splendid first collection" (Thomas Lux) of original poems by master poet Ira Joe Fisher, also known for his weekly appearances on The Saturday Early Show for CBS. Some Holy Weight in the Village Air "chronicles small-town life, its scandals and secret tragedies and small undoings" (Paula McLain) in language which "often dazzles and is always compassionate, immediate, powerful, and tender" (Kevin Pilkington).

A "splendid first collection" (Thomas Lux) of original poems by master poet Ira Joe Fisher, also known for his weekly appearances on The Saturday Early Show for CBS. Some Holy Weight in the Village Air "chronicles small-town life, its scandals and secret tragedies and small undoings" (Paula McLain) in language which "often dazzles and is always compassionate, immediate, powerful, and tender" (Kevin Pilkington).