This collection has historic significance in Dickinson studies not only because it highlights the interesting and complex relationship between Emily Dickinson and Susan Dickinson, her sister-in-law, but also because of the way the letter-poems appear here in print. Hart and Smith took pains to present as best they could in print the original line breaks and other features of Dickinson's manuscripts, and this causes the poems to run down the page in long narrow columns, in many cases. Like Johnson's restoration of the dashes did in 1955, this edition of letter-poems to one correspondent changes the way we "see" a Dickinson poem physically on the page. The form presented here is as equally fascinating as the content of the letter-poems themselves. Superb!

The best thing about this book is that it gives us Dickinson's poems to her best friend, Sue, in the form they actually appear on the page. For most people, seeing the manuscripts of her poems is something that will never happen so Smith and Hart do their best to give us an idea of what Sue would have seen when she opened the envelopes. The review from the reader in the desert southwest has not read this book as it was meant to be read--as another way of reading and seeing. Hart and Smith do not suggest that theirs is the only way to read the letters/poems, they suggest that there's another way to read them that has not been the tradtional way of reading. My graduate students loved this book, as do I, because it offers a fresh perspective. Few Dickinson books in the last 10 years have been truly original and different. Anyone with a true interest in Dickinson, not the passing interest some reviews here suggest, will read this book in conjunction with other Dickinson studies and will achieve her/his own perspective of the poet. Smith and Hart give us some wonderful ideas to ponder, whether or not we agree with them is not the point. The point is that we exercise our intellect and think.

OPEN ME CAREFULLY : Emily Dickinson's Intimate Letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson. 323 pp. Edited by Ellen Louise Hart and Martha Nell Smith. Ashfield, Massachusetts : Paris Press, 1998. ISBN 0-9638183-6-8 (pbk.)

The present book came as a revelation. How much more meaningful and exciting these 'letters' become when, instead of being treated as letters they are treated as poems. The range of effects generated by the simple procedure of respecting ED's autographs is amazing.

Editors Hart and Smith are to be congratulated. But one wonders why it has taken Dickinson scholars so long to start treating her drafts with the respect they deserve? One also wonders just how much poetry may be lurking unrecognized in the various editions of regularized letters we have been given? And finally one wonders when we are going to be given an unregularized Complete Poems? Would anyone, for example, seriously think of destroying William Carlos Williams' lineation and printing his work as straight prose or in conventional stanza form? Of course not. Then why should it be considered acceptable to distort the forms and rhythms of a vastly more important writer?

Dear Ellen Louise Hart and Martha Nell Smith - You've shown us what can be done, have done it extremely well, and we love it! In fact, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! So how about an unregularized COMPLETE POEMS? Please?

This is my absolute favorite book on orcas. I have read it three times. I bought it years ago at the Vancouver Aquarium while visiting the whales in the area and never tire of re-reading it. One of the the things I like are the appendices which list data on the whales. I wish Erich Hoyt would write a second volume or update it again! If you love orcas you will love this book.

I am an avid orca lover and this book was amazing. I was astonished by some of the stories I read. If you like orcas, you will love this book. It is very informational and quite entertaining. I highly reccommend this book.

An aewsome book. Reads really well and is full of useful information. A must for all Orca enthusiasts.

This is a serious and personal literary study of Dickinson's work by a scholar and fellow poet who appreciates both the art and the attitude of one of her American literary forebears.

Howe points out how Dickinson's poetry has been overlooked in light of her character and biography. It seems that in the 19th century, it was remarkable for a woman to be a poet at all, let alone write original, rebellious, and quite modern poetry. Hence, the work itself, though enjoyed by schoolchildren all over America, has been little understood.

Delving into Dickinson's reading lists, her notes and letters, and analyzing a few poems, Howe explores the workings of an intricate mind. She uncovers connections between Dickinson and the Brownings, the Brontes, and James Fenimore Cooper, and she shows how seemingly submissive, soft spoken poetic lines are actually rebellious and even at times angry. What Howe does not do is confuse the image of "The Belle of Amhearst" with the vital workings of the mind of this remarkable woman.

This book is an enjoyable read filled with Howe's admiration for her artistic predecessor and written in straightforward language, not literary jargon--a tribute from one poet to another. For anyone who enjoys Emily Dickinson's poetry, it is not to be missed.

You'll never read a book the same way again after "The Birth-mark"--you'll wonder about all the spaces, dashes, deletions and marginalia that didn't make it from manuscript to print. For Howe that's where the wild voices hide, dangerous figures like Anne Hutchinson, Mary Rowlandson and Emily Dickinson who threatened "civilized" male control. Howe samples texts like a hip-hop DJ, switching between voices to prove her point that editing was a typically male response to the wilderness that women (and the New World) represented.

Howe's passion for her subject is obvious, especially in the interview at the end. But the essays sometimes felt to me at least more like a display of cleverness than an effort to understand the figures she writes about. Like Charles Olson's "Call Me Ishmael," Howe's model, "The Birth-mark" squats a little uneasily between scholarship and poetry. The poet's own voice and sense of style tend to muffle the more distant Puritan voices, male and female, she's out to recover. Maybe this is the danger of not editing one's voice as a historian. Still, I'm glad I read this book--yet another reminder of what doesn't get into history and why.

For those who have read Susan Howe's poetry and marvelled at, but did not fully understand it, this book is compelling in its explanatory power. The quotations in the preface alone are worth the price of admission, for it is here than one can see how impressive is her understanding of Emily Dickinson's writing. By exposing the manuscript story behind Dickinson's works, Susan Howe has made a lasting contribution to American literature. Her essay on Cotton Mather is a charmer, certain to drive readers to find a copy of his Magnalia. The essay Incloser is a stylistic dynamo. There is also an interview with the author that sheds new light on her works.

But what will make this book immortal is Susan Howe's essay These Flames and Generosities of the Heart: Emily Dickinson and the Illogic of Sumptuary Values. To anyone who has read Emily Dickinson's poems in a "standard" or "variorum" edition of any sort, this book is a must, because you will soon learn that you have not, in fact, been reading Dickinson's words, but instead an editor's (inaccurate) version of them (whether Johnson or Franklin). Susan Howe demonstrates with a clarity and perception unmatched by any editor how the only way to understand and fully appreciate Emily Dickinson is by reading her manuscripts, some of which are reproduced in this book. And the manuscripts only make one appreciate more intensely the achievement of Emily Dickinson. If you've read Susan Howe's My Emily Dickinson, you must buy this book, as it completes the true story. It is a staggering achievement that will long be remembered as a landmark event in the understanding of America's greatest poet. American academia owes Susan Howe a debt of incalculable magnitude for this essay alone.

(Note on the other review of this book: how anyone can give this book fewer than 5 stars is a mystery. Susan Howe is a marvelous storyteller with a breadth of interests that cannot fail to intrigue even the most casual reader.)

This very information-filled book is jam packed with useful information that all firefighters/first responders will need. From Trauma, medical, Airway Management and Defibrillation to very basic Auto Extrication and Water Rescue this book is complete with all the medical knowledge that a firefighter will need.

We used this book in our first responder training. I found it very frustrating because the book didn't have to waste space for an "ambulance operations" chapter because firefighters don't need that training because we don't drive ambulances nor provide that type of patient care. There is a transition of care section which makes patient transfers easier. The last thing we need to know on the scene is the proper way to transfer care to more advanced care. The only thing this book really lacks is a firefighter's perspective. Certain operations will be done with a number of personnel, we carry at least 4 firefighters per apparatus. The defibrillation chapter makes use of fire service resources, but the others don't seem to. There should be an added chapter of taking care of common firefighter medical emergencies such as treatment for smoke inhalation and respirator hazards, hazardous materials exposure care, etc. It was good that there was an emergency rehab chapter, that is something that too few medical texts have.

There really isn't much difference between this book and the other EMT-B books on the market. There are a few extra chapters that are dedicated for firefighters. Much of the information in this book is almost word for word what is in other texts like "Emergency Care" and "Prehospital Emergency Care", it's probably that they are all made by Brady and that's why. IFSTA is a contributor so that gives this book a unique edge.