AustLit

'Robert Harris's The Gang of One, Selected Poems is divided into six sections and represents a lifetime of work. Five of the sections contain selections from specific collections, while the sixth section is a mash-up of uncollected poems. Unfortunately, because the sections are fairly unbalanced in length (some are quite short; others are very long in comparison), it is difficult to get a clear picture of the collections that each section represents. For longtime fans of Harris, this book might provide a way to look back on past favorites, but for those new to his work, the book has the feel of a tasting menu. Like other books of selected poems, it does not give us a clear picture of what the poet is hoping to accomplish.' (Introduction)

'The second stanza of the poem "What's in a Name" contains the lines, But at the Foundling Hospital Museum I find a clue in names inscribed of orphans left by desperate women with no choice; it's easy to imagine I'm descended from rough trade to Muddle Lane, for beside Ms. Plantagenet and Master Tudor, Ollie Cromwell and Alexander Pope, the moniker of my own great forbear, Augustus Caesar is plainly blazoned, a long way from court and the affairs of state. Section 2, "Shots in the Louvre," is the shortest of the collection and is not especially compelling because in the poems the speaker's voice has a heavy-handed element that leads readers to suspect he is attempting to moralize the paintings he is observing.' (Publication abstract)