Collection of poetry by Brian Turner, who is considered to be one of New Zealand's leading poets. Turner's first collection of poetry, Ladders of Rain (1978) won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize and his sixth collection, Beyond (1992), won the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry. Taking Off contains poems written over the past decade. Themes of the poems include: separation, the poet's relationship with his aging father, departed friends, fishing, golf, cricket and living in Central Otago.