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Reviews of

before it's LIGHT

Review by Laura Stamps

Review by Joyce Metzger

Review by Bruce Woods

Review by Norman J.Olsen

Review by John Birkbeck

Review by Doug Holder

Review by Hugh Fox

Review by Tony Moffeit

Excerpts:

Lifshin Does It Again!
Lifshin gets better and better! In "Before It's Light", she surpasses herself even further. This large collection of poems is a large slice of a large life. The poems cover a range of experience and emotions, from innocence to ecstasy to horror of the human condition. Lifshin is an American genius. Read this book!

      - John Birkbeck from Iowa City, Iowa
       
After finishing Lifshin's latest book of poems, I felt as if I'd lived a thousand years and travelled a million miles. The gamut of human experience covered in "Before It's Light" runs from the innocence of childhood through the slings and arrows of maturity, and unveils almost everthing, divine or evil, that can possibly happen in a human life. Lifshin weaves an enchanted fabric from a stark realist's thread of narrative. A "Must Read."

      - Mary McKinnery from Woking, Surrey, U.K.

I had seen Lyn Lifshin's name on the Internet.   I had read some of her poems but I was not that familiar with her work. When I was asked  to review Before It's Light I was hesitant  to accept the offer. I am very glad that I did. I felt like she was writing about my life, my soul. In her poem, "Hair,"she writes, "hated twisting it, twisting myself into what was neat, small and expected."
She writes the raging thoughts of many women. The thoughts we deny, the thoughts that are not so pretty and nice but none the less part of us. She exposes the strength and vulnerabilities shared by woman. Reading her poetry brings you face to face with your feelings and your own experiences. They become tangible and you embrace them. This book is not "neat, small and expected." It is as big as life, as true as life and filled with refreshing honesty about the messy imperfections of human nature. Before It's Light is a book that should be added to everyone's bookshelf. I recommend buying this book.
      - Linda Stehling


...made of flesh and word.

      - Laura Chester

       
      Contact Lyn for:

      RARE, OUT OF PRINT OR NEVER REALLY DISTRIBUTED 
      BOOKS, POSTERS, CHAPBOOKS
      Items you can't get from bookstores:  things like MAD WINDOWS: pub 1969 : Charles Bukowski, Diane Wakoski, Clayton Eshleaman, Peter Wild, DA Levy, Doug Blazek, Lyn Lifshin, and others.

      POETRY CRITICISM, PUBLISHING ADVICE, 
      available on an hourly basis through the mail.

      Write Lynfor details.