"He [Harry Graham] is in the great tradition of Lear and Carroll and Gilbert and Belloc. At his best he easily ranks with any of these ."
-Jeremy Nicholas, The Ruthless Rhymer, BBC
Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes (1898) is a book of short poems that are both witty and engagingly cruel, as only tongue-in-cheek humor can be. Many of the verses are just four lines and focus on a central character named Little Willie, who plays youthful, sadistic, pranks with benign indifference and other inappropriate responses. The Times of London described these poems as reflecting "that enchanted world where there are no values nor standards of conduct or feeling, and where the plainest sense is the plainest nonsense." Thanks to the author's satirical wit, his poetry is often compared to the writing of Edward Lear, Lewis Caroll, and W. S. Gilbert.
The perfect gift for adults who like to read for fun.