On a recent flight I reached for Margaret Atwood's "The Blind Assassin," only to find I had picked up this book by mistake. Much to my surprise, it was every bit at enthralling as any of Atwood's novels. A lot of critical writing tends to be dry, but this book is like a juicy turkey sandwich with an extra dollop of mayonaise. If you like Margaret Atwood's work as much as I do, you should read this book.

Margaret Atwood is one of my all-time favorite authors. I probably almost finished at least 2 of her books. But this one-this one I relished. Why? Because it is unparalleled in this world. It is one of the greatest books ever written that is not in Oprah's book club. I shall now use the thesaurus. It is recherche. It is worth its weight in gold. It is a giltedged, exquisite, in seipso totus teres atque rotundus! It is a work so profound that it outshines even Atwood herself, rendering her entirely obsolete. Read this, I insist.

If anybody asked me--describe St. Louis--I can now just hand them a copy of this book. Beginning with Pere Jacques Marquette and concluding with Gerald Early, 300 plus years of St. Louis are illustrated through various memoirs, stories, poems, essays and plays as told by St. Louisans (both well known and lesser known).

Not just mere public relations ad campaign for the region, the collection also confronts issues head-on that have plagued the region for quite some time. However many selections also remind us how many great aspects there are in this region to offer its citizens.

The introductions and bios for the individual authors also provide great context and insight to the pieces, as well as including many interesting tibits of information that even the most knowledgable St. Louisian wouldn't know. Kudos to Lee Ann Sandweiss and everyone at the Missouri Historical Society for assembling an anthology very worthy of anyone who "seeks St. Louis."

If you've been an O'keeffe fan for a long time this book will lack of new and interesting facts about her life and art. It is a "good" book, but it works only for people that have just discovered O'keeffe's greatness.

Having always been familiar with her work, this book provided me with a good synopsis of her life and her art. The book has a good layout, and a "tasty" palette of her art and color to feed on.