John describes the book thus: "a collection of poems, sketches, songs, stories, and diary entries which date back to my days in a Luton bungalow More recently documented are my travels to Australia, Cyprus, Columbia, Thailand, and France The French trip, which was recorded for BBC Radio 4, was stimulated by a painting of old Nice made by my father in 1931 It was my self-appointed task to find the scene and paint my own version The travels are littered with ordinary things painted large: potatoes, facecloths, blancmange, throat sweets, and litter"