Kathy goes to Haiti. Every man wants her to be his wife. A man takes her home. She is his wife. She cries. Little kids laugh at her. She goes somewhere else. Different men want Kathy as their wife. She doesn't let the first one take her home. Kathy is learning.

Kathy Acker has become known as the queen of punk feminist fiction. With Literal Madness she solidified that position. Three short texts unrelated to each other but connected by the quest metaphor. Of the three, Kath Goes to Haiti -- a pseudo-biographical piece -- calls for the most sustained interest. It is ostensibly a travel book adventure in the third world, but ultimately its quest is the undermining of linear narrative. Acker is a storyteller of the postmodern, disjuctive type. She short-circuits the narrative line in order to call the reader's attention to the discontinuous nature of our lives in/as fiction. She creates a hyperreality in Haiti, transforms place into text, and thereby questions the so-called reality principle. When her alter-ego "Kathy" discovers that Haiti is more a state of mind than a Caribbean island, the disjuncture in the text becomes sensible and senseless at the same time. The effect is surreal; but hyperreality (Jean Baudrillard's term) and surreality have in common elments of discontinuity and therfore serve to disorient the reader. Anyone looking for a 'good, old-fashion story' will have to look elsewhere because Acker's book satisfies none of the traditional reader's desires for linear regularity and certain expectability as to what stories do. Labeled pseudo-pornography, Kathy Goes to Haiti and other texts by Acker certainly do contain pornographic elements. But it soon becomes clear to the careful reader that what is at work in her fiction is the question of what pornography "means," especially for women. Can it be a tool to deconstruct itself? Can women themselves use it -- as Acker does -- to undermine its negative effects for women? Literal Madness is a great introduction to these questions for those willing to suspend their need for normal narrative development and to follow Acker through an acrobatics of word and scene, an at times insane juxtaposition of seemingly disparate materials that echo the disparity of our everyday lives and of our dreams. R. L. Mazzola, Robercind@aol.co

This is the sort of film that one cannot exactly say one has enjoyed -- but nonetheless one has sat rivited from beginning to end. The only word for this movie is "brilliant." I got a feeling for how alien and strange the ancient civilization must have been. Usually, in presentations of the classics, everything just seems like present day folks wearing costumes -- but not this film. Filmed in North Africa, it just blew me and my family away! If you like the classics, you will love this movie. Having said that, of course it has the usual Pasolini eccentricities. Be forewarned.

Pier Paolo Pasolini was most remembered as a controversial filmmaker -- Salo;120 days of Sodom is his most notorious, famous because it proceeded his tragic death. Likewise, Pasolini possessed others talents: painting, which was undermost and, as already proved on this site, writing. Pasolini began writing prose/poetry at an early age but soon developed his talent as a fiction writer (some of his films were originally novels). Roman Poems, beautifully translated by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, is a collection of Pasolini's scribblings: mainly prose, eulogies, odes, and long-poems. These compositions were compiled from different sources: some books dating from Pasolini's teenage years, others sometime before his death. Roman Poems presents many themes but usually centers around Pasolini's lifestyle as a street hustler and derelict; his poems are generally set in his Roman homeland --hence the titled. Moreover, Pasolini has created a ideology all his own, attacking groups as the aristocracy, Fascist Italy, Capitalism, and sympathizing the proletariat and the underdog. Of all the pieces in the book, the ones that stands out the most is "A Sentimental Education," and "The Resistance and its Light;" both exhibiting intense imagery and spirit for which Pasolini was known for. Unfortunately, Pasolini was persecuted and despised by many people: indeed an untimely death for an artist of his time. It's sad to say that people still have a hard time comprehending Pasolini, and this incomprehension usually manifests itself as deep-seated hatred. Roman Poems presents Pasolini as a man who anticipated a change in politics as well as a change in art. Those who will read are taking a great step.

Written while Pasolini directed his controversial film of the same title, most of this book reads like the list of set decorations and directions for the actor's actions rather than a novel.

A beautiful young man visits a middle to upper class family. They like him. They like him a lot! When he leaves they go crazy!!!! Why? I guess they just don't have anyone else in their lives who will rub their feet when they are sore, pat their heads and stroke their hair when they cry, or look at photo albums and art books with them. What? You thought he slept with them? Nope, not in the book. Oh yes, the maid doesn't go crazy - she turns into a saint who heals children because she is from the lower classes and the poor are gods and not evil and stupid like the rich, doncha know.

The narrative goes a bit over the top, but it is interrupted by poems which comment on the actions that are much more interesting. One passage in a section comparing the "spritual awakening" of the father to the Jews' time in the wilderness contains some marvelous writing.

Near the conclusion Pasolini asks some questions that apply even more today thean when he wrote this book. What happens when despite so-called class distinctions people share the same materialistic values? Who will judge them then?

It becomes clearer that Pasolini is aiming at at a discussion of Christian doctrine: the beautiful boy is stand-in for Christ and how the family members react to him leads to their condemnation or redemption.

An interesting though fairly cold and difficult to read book.

The paperback Quartet Encounters editions printed in Britain in the early 90's which make up most of the used copies floating about are very well made books. Thick card covers and sturdy paper.

mr rohdie is very impressed with himself. he does indeed possess great knowledge of italian culture and film. unfortuinately, he writes in such dense academic language, and seems incapable of constructing a sentence without attempting to make it as difficult to read as possible. This book is a first class example of a nod to academia, with no concern for the reader whatsoever. I recommend reading the first sentence of any paragraph, deciding whether it seems like it will actually contain any information, or if it will be an excuse for rohdie to douse the readrer in esoteric references. If it the former, read on. If it is the latter, and it most certainly willl be, skip the paragraph. No information will be contained therein.

pasolini is a fascinating figure. I hope someone actually arites a book about him someday...