The Delicacy and Strength of Lace: Letters Between Leslie Marmon Silko and James Wright ed. by Anne Wright

Abstract

Reviews 377 The strength of this work, however, is its portrayal of Twain, not as a literary figure, but as a sensitive, undisciplined young man who wrote for newspapers as a last resort when prospecting and stock speculation failed to pay the rent, and got to liking it-or at least to enjoying the notoriety. Twain appears by turns naive, cynical, righteous, dissolute, humorous, bitter, and always full of contraditions. Even as his popularity spread, he attempted to take his Qwn life. He yearned for recognition in New York, the country's literary center, but was outraged when that recognition came for a "villainous back-woods sketch" about a frog. Lennon never allows us to forget that behind each of Twain's wickedly humorous ancedotes or sharp-eyed descriptions lies a complex psyche filled with questions and self-doubt. A1ark Twain in California is not an exhaustive history of Twain's stay in that state. It avoids scholarly apparatus, although it offers a good selected bibliography, and for the serious Twain scholar it may be of only passing interest. It is, however, a well-crafted, informative and gently good-humored book that succinctly recounts an important episode in Twain's life and literary development. T. J. GORDON Utah State University The Delicacy and Strength of Lace: Letters Between Leslie A1arnIon Silko and James Wright. Edited and with an introduction by Anne Wright. (St. Paul: Graywolf Press, 1986. 106 pages, $8.00.) The first letters in this eighteen-month correspondence are a bit stiff and distant: ·Wright and Silko were only acquaintances when he wrote in August of 1978 to express his appreciation for her novel, Ceremony, a "perfect work of art," a book because of which "my very life means more to me...." Silko responded, warmly yet guardedly, and their correspondence grew. Silko's letters tell us much of the chaos in her life just then: a recent divorce, the struggle to earn a living, withdrawal from family and friends. But her letters also contain a series of valuable soliloquies on the art of storytelling as practiced by the Laguna and by Silko herself, illustrated by some delightful tales about Silko's ranch. Wright's side of their dialogue is so much that of the established writer at the peak of his powers, knowing that those powers have been recognized, that the reader is shocked (despite knowing of how and when Wright's life ended) by the letter whose second and third sentences are, "I have some bad news about myself which 1 nevertheless want to tell you. 1 have learned that I have cancer." . This slim volume of letters provides us with a fascinating look at Silko's hfe during the eighteen months of her correspondence with Wright, and deepens our understanding both of storytelling and of the Laguna roots of her 378 Western American Literature genius as a writer. What it shows of Wright may be, at first glance, less obvious, but includes generosity, understanding, compassion, encouragement of the younger writer-and, surely, courage in the face of death. We cannot help but feel it is very good that these two large spirits were able to become friends, though they met only twice (the second time in Wright's hospital room a few weeks before his death) - and we feel grateful that Anne Wright and Leslie Silko have made these letters available. I expect to read this book again, many times. WAYNE UDE Lewis and Clark College Contemporary Chicana Poetry: A Critical Approach to an Emerging Literature . By Marta Ester Sanchez. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. 377 pages, $25.95.) While there are several texts that present an overview of Chicano literature , Contemporary Chicana Poetry is the first book length study to examine the literary production of Chicano women poets. Sanchez seeks to introduce the work of Chicana writers to Anglo scholars in order to "contribute to the emerging body of literature that has no voice in dominant academic discourse ." With this aim in mind, Sanchez analyzes the work of four Chicana poets: Alma Villanueva, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Lucha Corpi and Bernice Zamora. These particular poets are chosen as representative of the best of Chicana poetry, and...