Is it That Bad? Reflections of a Grumpy Optimist - Softcover

Sometime contributor of poetic musings to the "Daily Telegraph", long-time gentle setter of spin, and veteran liver of life, Stuart Hulse distills the wisdom of middle-age into a cocktail of verses for all ages. "These are the poems of Everyman. In exposing so much of his life, Stuart makes so much of ours only too recognizable". So says fellow poet Peter Hughes in the forward to a collection of jottings and verses, confessions and observations that chart the realizations and celebrations of all our lives. From the honesty of midlife crises, to the self-aware irony of a family man, businessman and occasional occupant of an analyst's chair, several decades of musings and amusings are collected here, many illustrated with doodles by the author. It provides shrewd and tender observation of family relationships; and insightful forensic examination of universal obsessions: love, lust, cars and football, and a wry sideswipe at the business of media and public relations.

Born in South London during Britain's Finest Hour, Stuart Hulse has earned his living in the media world for several decades. Educated at Dulwich College and St. Martin's School of Art, he lived parallel lives as writer and broadcaster and founder of a Fleet Street PR and marketing agency. A first book of verse, Poems in Mid Life, was published in 1998. Now, from the perspective of retirement comes a collection of new and favourite reflections.