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Title: So engrossed in sex as to be indistinguishable from porn.
Review: I picked this book up because of my interest in the Beats, feminist literature, and the American immigrant experience. I was disappointed on all three counts. First, the only thing Beat about it is the era depicted, though I think it is far more about 1969, the year of its publication, than the '50s. Secondly, writing explicitly about sex does not make a writer a feminist just because she also happens to be female. It merely makes her a female pornographer. Thirdly, what little is mentioned of di Prima's heritage seems somehow pathetic and ashamed. Too bad. I doubt I will go on to read other di Prima work, but I suppose there must be something there in order for her to have been so highly regarded. This book is a waste of time and money. How was it picked up by such a major publisher as Penguin? Could it be that important an artifact of the '60s? It offers us nothing of the Beat Generation, and is an embarrassment to it.
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