O Positive

by Joe Dunthorne

O Positive is the long-awaited debut collection of poetry from Joe Dunthorne, and it has all the appeal of his widely acclaimed fiction. Adopting a sunny, genial tone, Dunthorne lures the reader to darker places, exploring death and dread, failure and regret - the 'lounge of our suffering'. Often, he catches us a 'whiplash' effect where poems shift from laughter to slaughter in a moment. Impertinent owls, an immersive theatre troupe, ancient men from the Great War and idiot balloonists - such characters dramatise our human fancies and foibles, joining the protagonist in scenarios both humorously bizarre and all-too-familiar. These performances serve to probe and unpeel the layers of the self - all the way down to the raw.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction

54 pages, Paperback

Published April 4, 2019

About the author

Joe Dunthorne was born and brought up in Swansea, and is a graduate of the University of East Anglia's Creative Writing MA, where he was awarded the Curtis Brown prize.

His poetry has been published in magazines and anthologies and has featured on Channel 4, and BBC Radio 3 and 4. A pamphlet collection, Joe Dunthorne: Faber New Poets 5 was published in 2010.

His first novel, Submarine, the story of a dysfunctional family in Swansea narrated by Oliver Tate, aged 15, was published in 2008.

Reviews

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read via CloudLibrary!

This was a quick poetry collection to dive into, divided into four sections- each one titled a name of a human blood group which was a good set-up. I enjoyed a few of the poems over the others. An OK read!

[cia... · Rating 4 out of 5]

!!!

[Alex Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Joe’s poetry, I’ve always loved the hallmark conflict between disarming subject matter, and the often playful lexicon in which it’s delivered. In O Positive, this is taken to a new level. In many cases, the reader is held just short of “cracking” a poem; instead, they are drawn back into multiple readings until the poem reveals itself in its own time. The plurality and dexterity of this gradual reveal is genius and perfectly timed. Sometimes a new vulnerability in the persona escapes from the protective cage of lexical/comic trickery - this is new to Joe’s work, and is welcome addition. All in all, the long-await first collection from Dunthorne was well worth the wait.

[Kathy Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in one go this morning, and then I read it again straight after. Funny, true, original, accessible - even for those who (like me) find poetry difficult to love.

I particularly enjoyed the frequent and inventive nods to narcissism - which almost-but-not-quite neutralises said narcissism.

'I decided to stop therapy

because I was perfect.
And how might your perfection
appear to others?
Classic my therapist,
missing the point completely.'

[Peter B Waddell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some poets guide us to a glorious vista or an intimate glimpse or some profound revelation. This anthology feels more like catching JD in a storage facility with container doors open, as he rips parcel tape from boxes, spills bags and pulls at things he's ready to discard...well, things it must be time to deal with. Stuff is checked, examined, rediscovered then added to the pile of things that really need to go. Some time.

[Tamara]

I am obsessed, and I mean OBSESSED with Joe Dunthorn's poem Old days so when I saw that he finally had a collection I pounced.

Favs:
Old days
Filters
In which I practise happiness

[Matthew Gurteen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best modern poetry I've read since Frank O'Hara. If there are two things I don't usually connect with when reading, they are contemporary poetry and humor. O Positive does both perfectly and deserves way more attention than it has received so far.

[Em Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

i feel like i rate everything too high but this was really good like some poems flopped but the high points were like everything i want to do with my poetry i felt they distilled something what did they distill i dont know but good for mr dunthorne i like the submarine soundtrack

[Natalia Piotrowska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun read, I enjoyed discovering the mechanisms behind each theme unveiling across all poems.

Feels to me like it’s a particularly relatable read for all young people working their corpo jobs in large metropolitan cities

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a collection!!

[Cara L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Which one's my favourite? I think maybe After I Have Finished my Important Poem 💛

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don’t particularly enjoy poetry, but Dunthorne’s depictions made a pleasant and easy read. I particularly enjoyed his depictions of guinea pigs!

[Jess Checkland · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m quite disappointed in this collection seeing how much I loved The Adulterants. This book has been sitting on my shelf for years and I finally decided to pick it up and was sorely let down.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

O Perfect

[Ben Yaxley · Rating 3 out of 5]

several good ones that remind me of lydia davis. i like the really short ones or the prose poems. most are a bit too whimsical for me, or i just dont get em.

[Rhodri Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun

[Theo Smaller · Rating 4 out of 5]

O Positive is a punchy, snarky entertaining collection that leaves you in a bit of a confused haze but somehow still manages to absolutely delight you. Its concepts are utterly, befuddlingly, jaw-droppingly bizarre and superb. From imagining a grizzly bear as an assimilated mascot character, to a simple string of questions addressed to a guinea pig, to a party featuring a lineup of people representing aspects of the narrator, there is nothing Joe Dunthorne won't prod to see if it moves.

I hunted this collection down after reading Submarine and it was exactly what I wanted, securing Dunthorne as an author I will return to again.

[Adam Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poetry in Joe Dunthorne’s O Positive is so unique and beautiful it was hard to read all of them in one sitting! As this book was incredibly thin, I didn’t want this piece of work to end! Do yourself a favour and just read it!

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Day 16 of the Sealey Challenge 2023.

Day 15 of the Sealey Challenge