Excerpts from a longer review by Judith Fein in HADASSAH Magazine August/September 2000: The book is sprinkled with Spanish, Hebrew, Ladino, and Yiddish. It is puctuated with love, questioning, humility, bravado, honesty, longing and anger.... At first the words seem tender and nostalgic and clever, but they begin to gain power as the diverse voices proliferate.... Of all the poems in the book, the Converso section elicits the most excitement. "I think this is because the phenomenon works both historically and metaphorically," Logghe says. "I ask,'What in your life have you kept hidden?' We all have hidden aspects of ourselves. The book is a vehicle for opening up dialoge with Jewsand non-Jews so we should find some common ground and hearts." Read the whole two page review and you will know why this book is a treasure to share.

In this diverse and masterly compilation, New Mexican Jewishpoets explore their Judaic identities as set against a backdrop ofarroyos, chili plants, and arid turquoise skies. Many of the poets are relatively recent transplants from elsewhere in the country, while a few have long made their homes in the Land of Enchantment. One of the Spanish-writing contributors is descended from the first Jews to arrive in New Mexico, fleeing persecution from the Spanish Inquisition in 1598. The theme of exile and searching permeates many of the works, with several poems inspired by the painful past-the Holocaust, the Inquisition. Other writers probe the wonder and strangeness of newly embracing their faith in this unlikely land. There are also numerous reflections on ancestors, family and religious holidays-one poem describes casting bread into the Rio Grande on Rosh Hashanah morning. Libraries serving communities with sizeable Jewish populations should consider this anthology a must purchase. Also recommended anywhere where interest is high in Western or Jewish culture, or just fine poetry.

Dirty Laundry, like all good spiritual memoirs, has that "peeping through the keyhole" quality that makes the reader feel he is getting inside information on a taboo or guarded topic. As per the title, Dirty Laundry has it all: marital problems, abbot/junior initiate sexual relationships, jealousy and intrigue in the monastery, financial problems, even the raising of a young child part-time at the monastary, part-time at home. Dirty Laundry's best quality is its ability to make Buddhist practice, even monastic practice, seem possible, if not practical. For all who have considered a retreat or even a longer period of monastic practice, Dirty Laundry shows what it might be like: the possible problems, possible solutions, etc. In this respect, it's a valuable book, as it is for taking the cover off the secrecy of domestic Buddhist practice.

However, while Dirty Laundry does a decent job of showing us the underbelly of monastic life, the book offers very little detail on the good stuff: practice, zazen, ritual, even the physical appearance of the monastary. This is probably due to the fact that the book is actually a journal kept in tandem by ordained monk Robert Winson and his lay wife, Miriam Sagan. Fully one-half the entries have little to do with Buddhism at all, except as an outsider's observation of how it fits into her life (or doesn't, as the case may be).

The squabbles and seemingly un-enlightened behavior that goes on can be infuriating to those who take their Buddhism a little more seriously, but Dirty Laundry is quick and easy to read and for its ease of digestion, offers some insight to the problems facing domestic monastic practice.

"Dirty Laundry" is a journal in two voices -- as such, it is full of the details of daily life: cooking, lovemaking, childraising, cleaning, fighting, moodiness. It's not so much a "Zen book" as it is a book about the possibility that what we do every day is worthy of reflection and learning. Robert Winson, who died in his mid-30s before the book was published, was clearly a passionate, sparky, sexy, earnest, empathetic, witty guy. . . . Reading "Dirty Laundry" makes you a little more awake to the brief life we share.

Robert Winson and Miriam Sagan writes alternating chapters in this engrossing book. Robert is going to spend 100 days in a zen monastery in New Mexico. Miriam stays at home with their daughter. This book describes vividly their lives inbetween visits and their weekend meetings at the monastery. The book also has much to say on the inner life of a monastery and on the role of the resident zen master : Richard Baker roshi. It's a relief to read autobiographical writings on zen that is not written from an academic, male, 60-ies only perspective. I've read several of them and this book beats them all!

The authors were involved in Santa Fe punk-groups "The Poetry Devils" and "Bichos". Robert Winson died in 1995.

With sensitivity and honesty, Miriam Sagan's poems in Widow's Coat speak of death, mourning, love and life. They reveal the depth of her intelligence and emotions and they evoked introspection and feelings of my own that would have been unconceived and unfelt if I had not read her poetry. I'll be re-reading these poems for many years to come.