Product Description
Piercy writes of women and poetry and of woman becoming poet.
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Customer Reviews (1)

great for writers
This book is a personal message to young writers from marge piercy, a poetwhom I deeply respect. It is about the importance of writing as a woman andfeminist to support women, and also about her experiences as a professionalauthor.It is both inspiring and practical. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Vida. . . a woman on the run. . .
I just finished Piercy's novel, and I'm really impressed. There are some literary characters who are unforgettable, who have been canonized into world literature as those rare characters who could just as well be "real" people, living among us, as they are people on pages. Holden Cauffield, Madame Bovary, Humbert Humbert, Mrs. Dalloway, Don Juan, Emma, Old Goriot, Raskolnikov. . . the list goes on and on. I think that Vida deserves a place among their literary legions. She is an extremely compelling character, fascinating, in fact, and totally unforgettable. . . She is a political activist who is continually in hiding from the authorities (i.e., the police, the FBI, the CIA), as a result of having involved herself in a sort of "network" of young activists out to "change the world." They hope to accomplish this through active political involvement, and one of the methods they employ is that of bombings, which I personally disagree with, believing that violence is never the answer. Vida would certainly call me an "armchair liberal" for this. Regardless, she is induced to spend her life in disguise, running away from the law, and her life is utter chaos. It may seem somewhat like an exciting and adventurous sort of existence for the reader, but very few people would actually choose, I think, to life a life of total turmoil. Vida is not exactly repentant of her actions, but she does often tire of having to live her life "underground," and not being able to enjoy the pleasures which people not "underground" often take for granted: a stable life, a stable job, a stable place of residence, a stable relationship, etc. Vida spends her life moving around and around, surrounded by fascinating people (most of whom are transient in her life, however), and can even be said to live a "life of mystery" (an idea which is pretty exciting in itself), but she also spends her life worrying, always looking over her shoulder to see who might be following her, who might be seeking to turn her in to the authorities. Not too many leftists would be willing to sacrifice their well-being and independence to fight for their causes, and in this sense, Vida is to be commended. She is a character from a novel, of course, but I'm sure that there are still quite a number of leftover political fugitives from the 60's running around in "real life," as there are those willing to help out the fugitives, with refuge, with money, with all forms of support to protect them. In this manner, although "Vida" is only a novel, life can and does imitate art, and so it is possible to imagine that the sort of things which occur in Piercy's novel could actually occur in "real life." Would I shelter Vida? Yes. I truly believe in the political causes of 60's activists (especially civil-rights activists and anti-corporate and anti-war activists). Would I choose to live a life like Vida's? Oh, no. All liberals draw the line somewhere! Regardless, Piercy's literary heroine is the type who fascinates, who inspires, and I found myself encouraging her in all of her "adventures" (except for the bombings!) while reading the novel. This novel is also not without its humor. Many of the people involved in the "network" are laughable, especially when they get all "nit-picky" over issues, and the way in which some of them fight with each other over trivial details. But even the idiosyncracies (and at times idiocies) of the characters in this novel have their own charm. People of all sorts of walks of life and political ideals can be absurd indeed, and Piercy transmits this exceptionally well in her novel. The only character I found thoroughly detestable is Leigh, Vida's husband/ex-husband, who is a ridiculous fraud and phony, and who represents the worst sort of armchair-liberal imaginable. (But it's really not our place to like or dislike literary characters; that is to say, that a person who knows about literature should know better than to judge literary characters, for they exist in a realm outside of the mundane, outside of "real life,"). Nevertheless, in spite of this literary caveat, shoved down our throats by countless literature professors, I read the parts of the novel involving Leigh with clenched teeth, and, to put it delicately, not wishing him well. "Bastard!" I often found myself saying. However, Joel and Eva, two of Vida's formidable lovers, are thoroughly likeable and intriguing. Joel is extremely naive, but in a pretty lovable way. "Vida" is an exceptional novel. At times it is fairly unbelievable (is it really so dangerous for Vida to venture into a diner just to purchase coffee, even when she is in disguise?) but it is literature, after all. And, as I was not alive during the 60's or know any fugitives from that era, I don't know just how far these sorts of things can go. I could go on and on about this novel, as I tend to do with novels that leave a deep and indelible impression upon me which endures far after I finish them, but I have already said quite a lot, and am very thankful to anyone who has had the patience and interest to read my review. In conclusion, this novel is a great one, and well worth your time, especially if you like Thomas Pynchon or Norman Mailer, for example, and are interested in the political activism and issues of the 60's. Enjoy! (Or "dig it!") :)

The haunting feeling remains
Set up for a conspiracy, on the run for many years- what a life.I admire the work done by the activists of the seventies, but would not want to live the life forced on Vida.How can someone run for so long and remain sodisconnected from people, as she had to be?She did the work that she didbecause of her love and concern for others so it was even harder to takethat she wasn't "allowed" personal involvement.Her work in the"movement" continued, but I was left with a feeling of discontentby her life. I don't remember the details, as I read the book severalyears ago, but I do remember the feeling that I had when Vida had to walkaway from it all, again. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

A wonderful book.
I go to a somewhat conservative boarding school and lent this book to one of my writing teachers, who previously had said that there is no way that a political poem can be heartfelt. This book proves that notion wrong.Normally when people think about politics, they only think about who isrunning for office, but there is so much more than that in this book. Thisbook should be available in every library in both the poetry and politicalsection. This is an inspiring book that speaks not only to the mind, but tothe heart.

Will Work for Peace is a triumph of poetic Davids.
As one of the poets featured in Will Work for Peace, one might expect me to be a bit biased, but nothing could be farther from the truth.Mostpoets work in a virtual vacuum, only tenuously connected to each other bythe occasional workshop or shared membership in a 'poetry society'.WhenBrett Axel first approached me for a submission to an anthology he wasconsidering, the names Marge Piercy, Lyn Lifshin, Moshe Bennaroch and somany others were abstractions to me as a fledgling poet.I knew thesetremendous writers were 'out there' somewhere, beating down doors withtheir words and keeping a struggling artform alive.But to think thatsomeday I would ever share a credit with these dynamic modern poets wouldbe a pipe dream at best.It is through the sincere efforts of Brett Axelthat many newer voices like mine have an extraordinary opportunity toappear with Pulitzer Prize winners and other poetic heavyweights. Byway of an honest review, however, I will say this- not everything in thisbook will be to your particular liking.I myself came across some worksthat did not move me in the way the author may have intended.Some imagerycan be raw and visceral, using shock value in place of craft at times.Butto ignore those voices would be an even more shocking turn of events, sopraise be to the editor for not sacrificing his vision to a senselessconformity.As Pete Seeger so aptly put it in his quote, trying to readall these poems at one time would be like trying 'to swallow Manhattanwhole'.I say to you- buy this book, read this book, but understand thatit's what you do after reading this book that will ultimately define whoyou could be.Poetry is alive and well, and lives in the blunt pages ofWill Work for Peace.

Good work!
This book has been a long time coming. Brett Axel has really contributed to the poetry world in a way that is noticed, rather than swept into acorner. Many of the poems are good, some are great. Not all the poets arefamous, but most of them contributed good work. I liked Amy Ouzoonian's andBrett's poems, as well as "Pinaud's Tonic" by Michael Pollick. Irecommend reading that one. The only criticism I would have of the bookis of the extreme scatalogical nature of some of the poems, which do notseem to fit with the theme of the anthology, and would, perhaps, be betterin collections by that particular poet, rather than in such an anthology.But, overall, it is a great work.

Thumbs Up
Just amazing start to finish!I like the disregard for fame used in putting the book together.That great poems got in even if they were writtenby nobodys.Look at Roger Bonair-Agard's poem on page 74.Shortly after Will Work For Peace came out he won Slam Nationals, becoming Slam Champion of 1999, which will be getting him lots of offers.But Zeropanik Press didn't need to be told he was good by an award.They could tell by his writing!Good forthem and good for all of us because Will Work For Peace is a literary milestone. It's a new standard for all future anthology editors to try to live up to. Thumbs up to Brett Axel and Thumbs up to Zeropanik Press for their guts and integrty.

Good reading
I liked this book.It has some of the best poetry I've ever seen in it.I especially liked the poems by Marge Piercy, Antler, Diane di Prima, and Susan Griffin, but all of it was good.I think there was only one or twothat I didn't like at all and they were short.I'd give it 5 stars but thetype was kind of small and I'd rather it be easier to read.My eyes aren'twhat they were when I was 30. ... Read more

Product Description
Sleeping with Cats is the intimate memoir of acclaimed author and poet, Marge Piercy whose bestselling novels include Woman on the Edge of Time, Body of Glass and Braided Lives. Focusing on her emotional life, rather than her literary or political adventures, here she reveals the life behind her poems and novels, and the origins of her remarkable literary career. Piercy includes several of her memorable poems and revisits the people, the circumstances, and the actions which inspired her to write them, laying bare the origins of both her fiction and poetry. Throughout her life are her cats, steadfast companions who remain while the people in her life come and go. Always honest and thoroughly compelling, Sleeping with Cats is a fascinating account of this extraordinary and complex woman's life. ... Read more

Product Description
In Colors Passing Through Us, Marge Piercy is at the height of her powers, writing about what matters to her most: the lives of women, nature, Jewish ritual, love between men and women, and politics, sexual and otherwise.

Feisty and funny as always, she turns a sharp eye on the world around her, bidding an exhausted farewell to the twentieth century and singing an "electronic breakdown blues" for the twenty-first. She memorializes movingly those who, like los desaparecidos and the victims of 9/11, disappear suddenly and without a trace.

She writes an elegy for her mother, a woman who struggled with a deadening round o fhousework, washin gon Monday, ironing on Tuesday, and so on, "until stroke broke/her open." She remembers the scraps of lace, the touch of velvet, that were part of her maternal inheritance and fist aroused her sensual curiosity.

Here are paeans to the pleasures of the natural world (rosy ripe tomatoes, a mating dance of hawks) as the poet confronts her own mortality in the cycle of seasons and the eternity of the cosmos: "iam hurrying, I am running hard / toward I don't know what, / but I mean to arrive before dark." Other poems--about her grandmother's passage from Russia to the New World, or the interrupting of a Passover seder to watch a comet pass--expand on Piercy's appreciation of Jewish life that won her so much acclaim in The Art of Blessing the Day.

Colors Passing Through Us is a moving celebration of the endurance of love an dof the phenomenon of life itself--a book to treasure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great collection of women's poetry
From the back cover:"This is a rich and exciting collection of contemporary women's poetry for the 1980s. Selected and introduced by Marge Piercy, and celebrating the diverse racial, ehtnic and cultural experiences of poets from all over the United States, it includes such well known names as Meridel Le Sueur, Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich as well as rising new poets like Joy Harjo, Celia Gilbert and Sharon Olds.Bringing together brand new poems and some of her own favourites, Marge Piercy shows that women are writing powerful, witty and moving poetry. There are personal poems, political poems, love poems -- a veritable feast.... ... Read more