“This book is extraordinary on many counts: in the originality and authority of its argument, in its scholarship and breadth of reference, and in its uncongested and nuanced style. In an intelligent and reflective way, the author takes account of a wide range of contemporary critical debates: feminism, modern poetics, psychoanalysis, cinematography, gay and lesbian studies, and questions of race, marginality, colonialism, and imperialism. She gives sophisticated, original, and persuasive readings of the poems, readings that have energy, verve, and playfulness as well.”—Eileen Gregory, University of Dallas