This book is funny, sharp, and coursely textured. Chrystos' voice is strong enough to engage every subject with an intensity that is hard to resist. Her love poetry sweats off the page with a passionate, blushing intimacy. Her political poems reveal the absurbly enormous gap between rich and poor, racisim that has become so ingrained it hurts to realize it, and the artiface of cities, organizations, and movements that forget individuals, nature, values...life. Most striking is the force with which Chrystos blows up illusion and the subtle, quiet ways she takes back what belongs to her.

My first day on the net ... I didn't just dip my toe in ... I posted a few Chrystos lines from this book and received some mighty powerful responses. This collection is not just erotic poetry ... it is the butch/femme dance done with lust, grace, joy ... a pleasure to behold and even more of a pleasure to share. This book was my first gift to my new love and ahhhh, what a dance it inspired. Chrystos puts it out there blatantly -- let's us see and feel the arousal -- head held high as she twirls in that bright red dress. Take this book to bed and feel the tingle

Native American poet Chrystos was born in 1946 in San Francisco and is part of a group classified by the Federal Government as "urban indians." Remarkably self-educated and a brilliant artist as well as a writer, Chrystos, in Not Vanishing, sets out to dispel the common stereotypes, myths, and misconceptions that are associated with Native people as well as to educate her readers on how issues of oppression, class, gender, and colonialism have affected the Native American culture.Like her contemporaries, Joy Harjo and Simon Ortiz, Chrystos utters a poetic voice that is exceptionally powerfull and also remarkably distinctive. In her own words, Chrystos states, "My purpose is to make it as clear & as inescapably as possible, what the actual material conditions of out lives are" (i). This sort of overt, political agenda provides a stark, realistic insight into contemporary Native life and a unique approach that perhaps has only been paralled by Paula Gunn Allen. Dealing with such issues as poverty, homosexuality, drug addiction, and urban decadence, Chrystos creates an urgency in her poetry calling for a return to ritual and tribal spirituality that upheld the Native culture before the appearance of whites on American soil. There is also in her poetry, an expression of an existing economic oppression in which Native American workers desperately cling to infertile tribal lands while trying to make a living off of facsimiles of their own cultural and religious artifacts, thuscontributing to their own exploitation. Balancing off the direct, sometimes angry, fierce tone are the aesthetic poems which sharply contrast her political verse and reveal her depth and creativity as a versatile poet. Through these poems, Chrystos explores her own sensuality and yearning for spiritual renewal with nature imagery and deeply poignant moments of reflection.

This book was my second lesbian book I've ever read. And I was taught new things that I never knew were possible with a woman's body and then again some I really didn't want to know. There were some sentences in some of the stories that were sensual more than erotic. I prefer sensual over exotic right now. I guess I didn't know erotic meant exotic. I felt a little bit intimidated by most of the stories and was perplexed by many. I don't think it's a good book for a newly out lesbian like myself as it has mostly hardcore action happening. I wish I could sell it for it is too late to return but I don't wish to read it again. One story I did find quite intriging but not worth buying the whole thing, which was Water Marks by Dawn Dougherty.

Men- Get this book. How hot ot see shapely women get it on with each other. Man, what a book!

what can i say about this...my copy is well-worn, and has been shared with friends. what i appreciate about this is the idea that sex is fantasy...that deep dark part of your mind where anything is possible. and then you write about it, and share it with other people. lesbianism is a political thing, that is true, there is a power in loving other women, but lesbian sex is not one-dimensional. this book made me realize that it was okay to want to have sex in a million different ways with other women. not all lesbian sex and fantasies have to be vanilla. as a result of reading this book and other erotica, i have started to write and explore the fantasy world in a much bigger way. this book celebrates women in many shapes and forms. in a time where sex can be so unhealthy, we need to cultivate forms of literature like this that encourage sexual fantasy and exploration. i would highly recommend it, and when reading this, remember not to take it too seriously. it's just fantasy. but it's very very fun...