At Our Core is an extraordinary book! Celebrating the unique power which resides inside all women. In an age where women all over are being oppressed and are unaware of their unique powers the poetry, photography and short stories in this book will awaken the power in evey woman who touches. This is a great gift for women who are struggling or who already take glory in their unique strenghts.

A remarkable and empowering book. I have worn the covers rereading these powerful writings and am now ordering copies for all of my friends. I have read aloud to everyone I know (including all of my men friends) from At Our Core. It is a must for women (and men!) in search of more meaning and spirituality in their lives. Few will leave these pages untouched and UNEMPOWERED!

I just want to point out that the first review attached to the record for AT OUT CORE, WOMEN WRITING ABOUT POWER -- is NOT about that title and needs to be taken off that record(it is labeled Library Journal, Feb. 97, and refers to somebody Randall and their kitchen). All the other reviews are about AT OUR CORE. I take a special interest in this title since I am one of the contributors to its pages. Thank you.

What attracted me first was the title of the book .. it gave me a feeling of hope and freshness!

Each portrait reaches to your heart and to your soul... it is like when you look deep into someone's eyes and find the truth.. about relationships, simple daily routines, and above all that lingering feeling of love that signifies one's decisions and actions!
So many lessons and more advice.. so poeticly described and softly accentuated for us to see.. and hopefully learn!

I enjoyed it extremely.. I went over and over several parts ... sometimes smiling and others tearing.. it is a book that surprises you every time you read it...

The women in this book could be my best friends. They face real issues and make the best decisions they can. Just like most of us, they sometimes wish that they could go back and do it all over. I especially liked the stories from women who were past their parenting years and trying to figure out what to do with the rest of their life. I bought copies for both my sisters: we can't afford to be like Nadine Stair and find ourselves at the end of life regretting all the things we didn't do.

I love this book. The first time I read the title poem, I knew it was the truth. The last thing I want to do is wake up in 30yrs and realize I could've had more fun. This book reminds you to Live each day for all it's worth.

It's hard to buy for my father but when I read this book I knew he would love it. It was so real. He just turned 50 a couple of years ago and he was so down. I wanted some way to let him know that he was still a very important part of my life. The poems are just fantastic. You can understand them. And they are about real life.

I bought this book for my parent's anniversary and had to read it myself before I gave it to them. It touched my heart. My favorite story was about an older man who washes his wife's hair and has since they were first married. It was so beautiful that I cried. I also enjoyed the poems and photographs. Some of them reminded me of my grandparents. I always enjoy the books from Papier-Mache.

Threads of Experience is a beautiful collection of poetry centered around aging which alternates bookspace with fabric portraits of graceful aging and wisdom with wrinkles. Threads here hold a double meaning: 1)those stitched together to form the faces revealing years of love, pain and laughter, and 2) those words stitched together to form fluid poetry, enhancing each quilt image presented in this wonderful book.

This past weekend I saw Ms. Scherer's special exhibit at the MAQ(see above) in Paducah, KY. This woman's work is incredible and this book is a wonderful representation. I think I may have found my new favorite current artist.

This gem of a book is a collection of poems, photographs and short stories that focus on the special "ties" that develop between children and their opposite-sex parents. The book is divided into two sections: Fathers & Daughters/Mothers & Sons, with selections in each that touch on all the myriad ways of relating in these special family relationships. There is humor here, sensitivity, sometimes pain. But the selections are truly wonderful in covering the full spectrum of feelings that exist, as well as the many different forms and kinds of parent/child relationships there are. Most important of all, these short pieces touch the chord of truth. Often moving, sometimes quite captivating, and always memorable, this is a book that deserves to be read and shared with loved ones. Give this book to a family member you love! Your relationship with that person will likely be enriched.

The poems, short stories, and particularly the photos in this book are so touching. I encourage women who are interested in self-discovery to read this book, because the passages inspired me to reflect on myself, my life, and my relationships with those I love. This is a good book for any woman who is going through changes in her life. (It would be a good graduation gift, a good gift for a woman getting married or having a baby, and a wonderful birthday present.) The book celebrates strong women, fragile women, mothers, daughters, growing up, growing old, just growing. I really enjoyed reading it.

This book flows with wisdom about the stages of a woman's life. There is arm pumping joy, tears of compassion and sadness and the affirmation of the person within over the external skin.

"..if by wearing silk, my value mounts
what happens when I'm bare?"

There are pieces that apply to whatever stage of life a woman is passing through. There are pieces that bring the smiles of remembering past stages. There are pieces that point to possible routes for the journeys to come.

Read and enjoy this passage from "Combustion"
"When I have a hot flash....I watch, astounded, as an invisible hand tosses water on the stones of my body, and I ignite. How can flesh not melt? Then, of necessity, I give up the watch and close my eyes and float on the water, and then the fire expends itself, and I pick up my little fan and create a breeze something like the ones that frequsent northern lakes at night. Then I just sit in the quiet puddle of my flesh. If it is the middle of the night I sleep the good sleep of a person cleansed."

This book should have an entire galaxy of stars! The poetry, photographs, and stories are all by and of real women. Thank God there are no movie stars in this awesome, down-to-earth book. If you love becoming a wise, older woman, then you must have this book. It affirms our womanhood as no other book I've ever read.

With a few exceptions, these vignettes of aging are from the viewpoint of young relatives of aging women. The title is a line from "Warning," a poem by Jenny Joseph. Joseph proposes that one of the benefits of aging is doing as one pleases, and what will please her is not just wearing purple, but spitting where she chooses and picking other people's flowers. My mother, herself at the age that Joseph yearns for, found this so offensive that she refused to look at any other part of the book. There are a few pieces that are particularly nice, including Sarah Barnhill's "Near Places, Far Places," in which a woman entering midlife begins to connect with her mother's values. The volume is riddled with the kind of typographical errors that would have easily yielded to a computer spellcheck, or even a cursory proofing. Though pleasing enough, I am of the opinion that the book is selling as well as it is on the strength of its titillating title and a charming! cover illustration.

I gave this book to my mother on her 75th birthday - she will be eighty soon, and refers to the title everytime she does something out of the ordinary, like gardening in the rain, line-dancing, wearing jeans while watching the sun set in Key West, riding in my convertible with the top down right after she had her hair "done", etc. I just bought two copies for my aunts who are in their eighties, and would never dream of doing what their "baby sister" does. Maybe they'll lighten up and enjoy life while they are still able and healthy. This book encourages women of all ages to enjoy life to the fullest.

This little (?) book, tells so much and teaches such a great lesson of life. In so few pages, aging and what it means is addressed. Live life each moment.

Living in a retirement community for over 11 years, I have found so much truth to the stories. Some make you laugh, some make you cry. Some might depress you, others are so uplifting. It is difficult to read without having any emotion at all. Now at age 55 I am a member of AARP, but not ready to stop living, that is for sure!

So what that this is the "down" side ..... the freedom and wisdom to chose and chose more wisely at that..... means so much more than a date!

What is the old expression about you start to die from the moment you are born? That is true, so you might as well get the most out of the ride, yes?

hmmmmmmmm I think I see a new scarf awaiting me... and yes, it is purple.

This is a beautifully crafted book of verses

I purchased this book for my elderly mother as it typified her approach to life. She would be forever quoting sections from the book as her behaviour reflected a phrase or section from it. (and yes - she did wear purple!)

It is a gentle reflection on ageing and how too often in our younger years we are driven by fad and fashion. I would thouroughly recommend it to anyone who has elderly parents - and to the parents themselves.