The first section reproduces the full text of Burgess's shorter poetry, including the title "Five Revolutionary Sonnets" which were first published in The Transatlantic Review.

Reproduced are a large fragment of Burgess's translation of Pervigilium Veneris, which was incorporated into the novella The Eve of Saint Venus.

Included are extracts from adaptations of Carmen by Georges Bizet, Oberon by Carl Maria von Weber, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Chatsky by Alexander Griboyedov, and Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, as well as original works Blooms of Dublin, the unfinished Shakespearean musical Will!, Trotsky's in New York!, A Clockwork Orange: A Play with Music, and Mozart and the Wolf Gang.

Andrew Biswell, writing for The Guardian, heaped high praise on both the editor's handling of footnotes and the author's choice subject matter, positively comparing the historical treatment of the Protestant Reformation in the "Five Revolutionary Sonnets" to the verses written by W. H. Auden on the Second Sino-Japanese War.

However, Biswell noted with disappointment the absence of several verses from longer Burgess works, as well as the wholesale omission of "An Essay on Censorship."

In particular, he asserted that Burgess's poetry was only a minor part of his contribution to literature, and frankly stated that "the badness of this is simply incomprehensible."

However, he did approve of Burgess's incorporation of his original poetry in the comic novels of the Enderby series, and acknowledged that the poems themselves had an audience.

"If you and your friends sit around coming up with silly ideas for opera titles ('Mozart and the Whole Wolf Gang' [sic])," Chiasson opined, "this book is for you."