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Sonnets for Sinners

Everything One Needs to Know About Illicit Love
John Wareham
ISBN 9781566499590 (hardcover)
Published in February 2010
MSRP $14.95
A Pulitzer Prize Nominee
"A Gem to be Treasured... Love, Life and Lust in Double Spread. Covers the range of amoral yearnings present in the heart of (wo)men from the days of the great bard, up to present-day e-mail missives. Indeed, much salaciousness is added to this volume by John Wareham's reworking of the (not-so-secret) love lines penned by such dethroned role models as Tiger Woods and South Carolina's Mark Sanford, not to mention that he hardly leaves the dignity of the royal family intact, including lines penned by Prince Charles (in ecstasy) and Princess Diana (in lovelorn wrath). John Wareham accompanies each of the sonnets with a witty and insightful exposé of love's intricacy and ramifications, as well as a critique of the metaphors, imagery and structure of each poem. Each exploration of a poem (and poet worth as an addition to the literary genre is concluded with a pithy aside. an excellent anniversary gift for long-standing lovers."
- Book Pleasures
"This tiny tome packs quite a punch .. a juicy book filled with passion, desire and yes, carnal lust. Wareham brings us all this and more ... After each sonnet, he gives a wonderful summarization that affords the reader a better insight into both the poems and the poets. This is the perfect gift for that special person in your life. Or buy it for yourself and enjoy each deliciously tempting page."
- Ambush Magazine
In this startling collection of forty nine "sonnets for sinners," poet and life-coach John Wareham reads between the lines, and for each poem provides a facing page of life-altering insight into the nature of illicit love. He also distills and dissects sonnets from the infamous Charles and Camilla cell phone conversation, lines from Diana Spencer, the text messages that trapped Tiger Woods, e-mailed love missives from the Mark Sanford Appalachian Trail affair, and transcripts from the John and Elizabeth Edwards meltdown. Former U.S. president Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary also make cameo appearances. The lessons of these pop-culture personalities, appear within a mix of classic and modern poets-from the sublime William Shakespeare to the incandescent Elan Haverford-chronicle the typical journey from attraction and fever to anguish and enlightenment.