Although this volume contains her earlier works, Frame Structures is supplemented by a more recent essay that provides a wealth of information about her personal life, and in doing so enriches the poems within. Those unfamiliar with Susan Howe's work may find this to be a good introduction. Her unsurpassed ability to combine prose and poetry make this a delight for the eyes. What we see is a constancy of purpose, a dazzling command of language, and an impressive storytelling ability.

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.

Buy this if for nothing but "Melville's Marginalia," an astounding combination of mystery and poetry. Although the version of "Eikon Basilike" is not quite as impressive as the separate printing by paradigm press, it's still essential reading for those who think poetry is based on sound alone. Her sense of the visual and her ability to spin a web are what are sure to make this book appealing to any reader.

The author relies on her astonishing sense of sight and sound to produce a work of genius. At once transcending the notion of manuscript and propelling words beyond the limitations of poetic form, this book is as compelling as a narrative of the enigmatic Peirce as it is an experiment in the luxury of license. Her view of the poem as a visual object finds clear expression here amid the startling contrasts and congruencies of words. And she saves the best for last: the poem Ruckenfigur can't fail to impress, its angularity and perception bringing forth analogies to Alice Fulton. This book's beauty cannot fail to captivate.

Poetry is highly personal. Howe has a voice that penetrates deeply, for me and for many of the other poetry-loving friends who have read this book. Howe's work is not harsh, hard or cynical. She speaks to the meditative, the gently ironic, and the essentially life-affirming sides of my consciousness. She combines deep compassion with a masterful command of the language. What an accomplished wordsmither. Definitely worth a try.

All of the books from the BYU Women's Conference are wonderful, uplifting, entertaining, and surprisingly candid.

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.)

elevated by time distance distance and more distance-- dogma is pristine history is pristine therefore... I couldn't find any mention of Romance Novels or Safeway in the book. American History? Plenty of "original" history. O.J. Simpson is not original history according to this book. Ask yourself what would be excluded by this book. Ask yourself this of any writing. American History? Pre-revolution. It begins at the beginning. Where am I? Here. The book is there. American history. Vietnamese-American history? hardly. Ask what gets excluded.

It's hard to believe so much intensity of word can be found in a slim volume of poetry, but Susan Howe here creates a magical world populated by a non-stop series of singularly perceptive lines. Those not familiar with her work will find a startling ability to capture meaning in disparate ways. Her complete power over words as objects can jar your senses into new meaning.

Here's a fleet review of some of Susan Howe's poetic sequences. Rachel T. Back writes intelligently about the poems and affectionately. For some of the poems there is no best method of approach but Back offers some helpful paths. Items of Howe's own past are revealed, but most of this information exists elsewhere in "My Emily Dickinson" and "The Birth Mark". Howe's faithful readers and the curious will enjoy, however, and be enlightened by this thoughtful book.