"This book is a gem. A memoir in the form of free-associative prose poetry, it’s deceptively simple and spare. Brainard’s collage of matter-of-fact remembrances creates a rich and tender portrait of the writer, his time and place, and magically mirrors the reader’s equivalent humanity."

"I read these four books in my late teens and early twenties, which may have had something to do with my having been swept away by them--by the sheer poetry of the writing, the sensuous atmosphere of Alexandria, the sexual tension, and above all the mystery and ambiguity."

"No poet since Wallace Stevens has used poetry as a vehicle for such ecstatic thinking. In her recent books, Graham has faced up to the peril of our moment more than any other writer I know. She has become not just a brilliant poet, but an essential witness."

"I dove into the middle of it instead of starting at the beginning. I came across a lot of beautiful poetry of the whiteness of the whale and the colors of nightmares and the great spirit’s spout…I turned back to the start: ‘Call me Ishmael,’ and I was in love!"