IF, AS Farley and Roberts suggest — based on research by an American academic — that being a published poet is more dangerous than being a deep sea diver, then the premise of this book is self evident: Not alone should poets be uninsurable, but their company should be avoided at all costs.

Irish jockey Leighton Aspell bids for racing immortality this afternoon as he chases a third consecutive Grand National victory. But long before his Aintree successes catapulted him into the media spotlight Aspell’s talents had won him a devoted band of followers...