Adrienne Rich has to be the most over-rated poet in history. Her work would be completely forgotten if it was judged as poetry, but because she has been adopted as the ideological idol of PC fanatics everywhere, she has become an untouchable icon of the present. Rich is best compared, intellectually, to the literary drudges of Soviet Russia, who extolled the glories of the people for the Communist Party. The diffrence, obviously, is that Rich is not embraced by the State, but by the buddy system that is academic feminism. This volume, complete with the breathless worship -- oh, sorry, critical scholarly attention -- of the editor, is a very fine presentation of what is, for all practical purposes, the work of a transient figure whose prominence is entirely dependent on the current PC state of the American academic establishment. If you wandered to this book because it claims to be poetry, why not skip it and try someone with some soul adn some real poetic talent?

Oct. 5: She is presented with prestigious Lannan Literary Award..for $100,000 for a job in writing,well.

Not merely a wonderful and incredibly courageous poet; oh, no. She is also a brilliant and challenging essayist. Most famous for "The Hermit's Scream", her other prose is absolutely startling in its originality and courage. This book is a threat to white males everywhere. I cannot recommend it highly enough.