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Poetry Mon Dec 14 2015
The Perfect Stocking Stuffer for the Beatles Fan on Your List
Chicago Public School teacher and writer Jack Murphy has teamed up with local freelance artist Melanie Plank to produce an illustrated book of Beatles inspired poems. The collection, titled Beware of Napkins, includes 15 poems and 23 pen, ink and crayon or crayon-like illustrations.
The poems are tender snapshots of lives, familial relationships, and friendships explicated through a fondness for or an experience of the Beatles and their music. The collection includes illustrations of a series of letters from a father to his daughter in which he discusses different Beatles albums and songs. Through each letter we see the pair age, the daughter becoming an adult with a family of her own while the father becomes a retired widower. Despite the evolution of their lives, their mutual appreciation for the Beatles remains. The title of the collection comes from this series of letters. The daughter mistakes the words of George Harrison's "Beware of Darkness" for "Beware of Napkins."
Most of the poems are like this, childlike, and capturing an innocence and effervescence that exists in the unbridled appreciation of music. The illustrations act cohesively with the poems. They're perfectly whimsical, bright, and fun, and reflect that place pure fanhood can take in our lives.
For less than $20, this pocket-sized poetry collection makes a great stocking stuffer for any Beatles fan. Copies can be purchased at Foursided's three Chicago locations and on the author's website.
