"Words For Elephant Man": poetry by Kenneth Sherman

“Words For Elephant Man” by Kenneth Sherman: a review

“Hauntingly beautiful!”

Although these words are overused, they really apply to this collection of poems. This is a journey through Joseph's short, painful life, told in the first-person with dark wit, longing and keen observations of the 19th-century conditions around him.


Unsentimental yet deeply moving, "Words For Elephant Man" take us into Merrick's world of fairgrounds, the grim workhouse from which he was desperate to escape, the society ladies who awakened his awareness as a man, and Frederick Treves, the doctor who secured for him a permanent home at the London Hospital.

Unlike the movie and the play, these poems are historically accurate, being based on the superbly- researched biography, "The True History of the Elephant Man (Howell & Ford, 1980.)

A real tour de force for anyone who admires Joseph Merrick, as well as for readers new to his story, "Words For Elephant Man" should be on every library shelf. Highly recommended for all!

David Lynch's film, "the Elephant Man"

I first saw the film in about 1983 and have watched it numerous times since.  It was shot in monochrome, to add further impact and and better illustrate the poorest quarter of London in the 19th century. Whitechapel.  If you haven't yet seen it, I can wholeheartedly recommend it. Even though there are areas that stray from the truth, it is, nevertheless, a masterpiece of cinematography, in my opinion.  I look forward to your construction opinions. Not just on the film itself, but on the way Joseph is portrayed, and, especially, the depicted relationship between Frederick Treves and Joseph Merrick, (known in the film, as 'John'.