I highly recommend this book. Katie is definitely my favorite contemporary poet. Her poems evoke beautiful images and feelings -- both powerful and sensual. I bought this book back in 1995, when I had the pleasure of attending one of her poetry readings, and its been one of my favorites since. The poems show the mark of a master poet, who has elite skills for giving life to words. The images she creates poignantly express the diverse themes of her poems. For readers looking for a book full of emotion, passion, awareness, and heart, this work would be a great selection.

i ordered this book to supplement studies on gender issues in modern and contemporary irish literature... the book includes a variety of excerpts from some of the best authors (both male and female), none of which are taken out of the context in which they were originally intended. taking an interest in both the irish woman's self-image as represented by numerous female authors and poets, as well as the male conception of the female in the context of irish fiction, the collection is comprehensive and enjoyable to read outside of scholarly research and observation. the only lingering question in my mind remains the editors' abilities to discern some image of womanhood outside of the context of manhood, which they seem to take for granted, thus further dichotemizing the issue they seem to desire to shed light on... that said, i really enjoyed the collection, and the variety and openmindedness with which they gathered the excerpts.