The highly anticipated follow-up to the wildly popular Glimpse

Quick is George Murray’s second collection of aphorisms — a form that straddles the lines between poetry, philosophy, humour, and prose. He describes these pieces as “poetic essences” — sometimes even as “poems, without all the poetry getting in the way.” Some are deep, some clever, some funny, some all three. The best, he says, should read like common-sense statements that have never actually been expressed.

Built out of more than 450 short statements, Quick is a series of thoughts and ruminations, any one of which could be an entire poem but instead has been compressed into a single profundity. Following his bestselling Glimpse, Murray continues to explore a wide range of themes: from deep existential disquiet to the comforts of the meaning of belief; from what it means to be alive to how the world deals with hate, love, the sublime, and the ridiculous.

George Murray's three previous books of poetry include The Hunter (McClelland & Stewart, 2003) and The Cottage Builder's Letter (M&S, 2001). His poems, fiction and criticism have appeared in many publications in Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and Europe. Murray won the 2003 New York Festivals Radio and Television Gold Medal for Best Writing for his broadcast poem "Anniversary: A Personal Inventory" and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is the editor and publisher of the popular literary website Bookninja.com and a contributing editor for several literary magazines, including Canadian Notes and Queries and The Drunken Boat. He lives in St. John's, Newfoundland.

George Murray's profile page

“Many of them are humorous but cuttingly accurate . . . and the very best of Murray's aphorisms are dense, compressed orbs of poetic power.” — Winnipeg Free Press

“This very quickness of the collection, part Chinese fortune cookie, part wisdom pocket, should not be mistaken for lack of depth. Murray’s work honours long-lived resolve. It is preferable to bite off small morsels of this book, savour each aphorism like something sacred, delicious.” — Atlantic Books Today