work is in the light of my present understanding of the modern poem. He belongs in the very first rank of our living artists." See full text of Williams' 1951 letter. Reviewing this book of poems in the Saturday Review, Selden Rodman wrote of Eli Siegel, "He comes up with poems like 'Dear Birds, Tell This to Mothers,' 'She's Crazy and It Means Something,' and 'The World of the Unwashed Dish' which say more (and more movingly) about here and now than any contemporary poems I have read." See full text of Rodman's 1957 review. In 2005, the title poem, as read by the author, was made into an award-winning film by Ken Kimmelman. References American poetry collections 1957 poetry books Aesthetic Realism