We think of him as the man behind the lad mag craze
By Heidi Dawley Oct 14, 2008
Most recently, Felix Dennis was extricating himself, if not his somewhat tarnished name, from a scrape over a confession of sorts he wished he'd never made. It was all lies, he admitted, the work of a mind, his own, addled by drink and medications.
No, Dennis affirmed, he had not killed a man, despite admissions to the contrary to a London reporter who went on to publish the tale in a London paper, The Times. He had been talking straight for five hours, drinking all the while, when the fib came out.
In this age of corporate publishing, there are fewer and fewer men like Dennis, wildly successful at publishing--Maxim was his--yet endlessly colorful in their private lives, renaissance men of excess, as it were. Dennis has been a crack addict, a drinker, a story-teller and a womanizer like they don't make them anymore.
Way back he spent a spell in jail, the result of a publishing venture that irritated the British authorities. He famously spent less time locked up because, in the opinion of the judge, he wasn't nearly as bright as his co-defendants. That was in 1971.
Now meet Felix Dennis, living poet, if you haven't already. Dennis has been writing poetry for years, and he has a new collection out, “Homeless in My Heart.”
It is not what you might expect: clever, biting sendups or off-color doggerel.
This is serious Felix, sensitive and very traditional in his poetic style, favoring the old-fashioned devices of rhyme and meter. And passionate about the craft of poetry. As he writes in “Homeless": “A Fleet Street journalist has observed that I write ‘like a man obsessed’: perhaps I am subconsciously attempting to make up for lost time?”
Here is one poem, titled "Migrant Memories."
In spring, I soak the verge outside my gate;
My neighbours think me a lunatic -- or bored --
As seated on a stile, I watch and wait:
A flash of acrobatics my reward.
The smaller things in life loom larger now.
If once I courted wealth with sword and blood,
My pirate boots today can play the plough
For swooping migrants scooping up the mud.
And while I watch their joyous, plunging flight,
I contemplate the years of brag and theft,
The dreary, squalid years when might made right,
This mercenary bounty all that's left.
The air is filled with wings, yet strangely calm:
'The best that men can do, is do least harm.'
Dennis began writing poetry back in 1999 while he was in the hospital receiving treatment for a thyroid disorder. He now writes for three to four hours a day and has published a number of poetry books.
Two recurring themes in his poetry are things that his life has provided him with a lot of -- money and regrets.
As Dennis puts it in his new book: “I write to discover who I am, to escape the carapace inherited from a life spent earning filthy lucre, to stave off a predilection for other addictions and, primarily, to experience the sheer joy of weaving words to shape ideas.”
Dennis's traditional style connects because people understand it, and they buy it, which separates his work from that of poets with far greater reputations.
His first book, “A Glass Half Full,” published in 2002, has become one of England’s biggest sellers of original poems in recent years.
But perhaps the real joy for Dennis is the comfort writing poetry brings him. As he writes in new book: "The flame of poetry cauterizes the wound of life as nothing else can.”
***
Meanwhile, elsewhere in popcult, “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” was No. 1 at the box office over the weekend for the second week in a row, bringing in $17.5 million. “Quarantine” was No. 2 with $14.2 million in ticket sales.
In DVD rentals for the week ended Sept. 28, according to IMDb.com, new releases “Sex and the City” and “Leatherheads” finished Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, with last week’s No. 1, “Made of Honor,” slipping to No. 4.
On iTunes this morning “Womanizer” by Britney Spears was No. 1, followed by T.I. and Rihanna’s “Live Your Life.”
And in books, Nicholas Sparks’ “The Lucky One” debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times’ hardcover fiction best-sellers list for the week ended Oct. 4 and at No. 2 on USA Today’s book chart for the week ended Oct. 5.
TOP MOVIES Weekend Box Office Estimates
Weekend of Oct. 10-12, 2008
Rank
MOVIE
Engagements
Box office (millions)
1
Beverly HillsChihuahua (
Buena Vista)
3,218
$17.51
2
Quarantine (Sony)
2,461
$14.20
3
Body of Lies (Warner Bros.)
2,710
$13.12
4
Eagle Eye (
Paramount)
3,614
$11.02
5
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Sony)
2,421
$6.50
6
The Express (Universal)
2,808
$4.73
7
Nights in Rodanthe (Warner Bros.)
2,575
$4.61
8
Appaloosa (Warner Bros.)
1,290
$3.34
9
The Duchess (Paramount Vantage)
1,207
$3.32
10
City of
Ember (Fox Walden)
2,022
$3.20
Source: Yahoo Movies
IMDb TOP DVD RENTALS Week ending September 28, 2008
Rank
TITLE
Last week
1
Sex and the City
-
2
Leatherheads
-
3
Baby Mama
3
4
Made of Honor
1
5
Deception
-
6
88 Minutes
4
7
Speed Racer
2
8
The Forbidden Kingdom
5
9
The Love Guru
6
10
What Happens in Vegas
7
Source: IMDB
ITUNES TOP 10 SONG DOWNLOADS for week ended Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
Rank
TITLE
1
Womanizer, Britney Spears
2
Live Your Life, T.I. feat. Rihanna
3
So What, Pink
4
Hot N Cold, Katy Perry
5
Let It Rock, Kevin Rudolf
6
Whatever You Like, T.I.
7
Love Story, Taylor Swift
8
Love Lockdown, Kanye West
9
Gotta Be Somebody, Nickelback
10
Keeps Getting’ Better, Christina Aguilera
Source: iTunes
NEW YORKTIMES BESTSELLING BOOKS Week ending October 4, 2008
Fiction (hardback)
Rank
TITLE
Last week
Weeks on chart
1
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
-
1
2
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
1
17
3
One Fifth Avenueby Candace Bushnell
5
2
4
Heat Lightning by John Sanford
2
2
5
Tsar by Ted Bell
8
2
Nonfiction (hardback)
1
The Snowball by Alice Schroeder
-
1
2
Dewy by Vicki Myron with Bret Wittner
5
3
3
Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman
1
4
4
A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill O’Reilly
2
2
5
The Limits of Power by Andrew Bacevich
7
8
Fiction (paperback)
1
The Shack by William P. Young
1
20
2
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
-
16
3
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
3
5
4
Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks
4
9
5
The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
5
7
Nonfiction (paperback)
1
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
1
88
2
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
2
89
3
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
4
41
4
Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
-
116
5
Sarah by Kaylene Johnson
3
5
Source: New York Times
USATODAY BESTSELLING BOOKS Week ending October 5, 2008
