4 MARCH 2006, page 42

Benedictions And Clichés

P. J. Kavanagh D EAR R OOM by Hugo Williams Faber, £8.99, pp. 55, ISBN 0571230377 T he poems of Hugo Williams used to puzzle me; they were so simple I couldn’t make them out.......

Much Possessed By Death

Harriet Sergeant M ISHIMA ’ S S WORD : T RAVELS IN S EARCH OF A S AMURAI L EGEND by Christopher Ross 4th Estate, £14.99, pp. 262, ISBN 9780007135080 ✆ £11.99 (plus £2.45 p&p)......