There they (police officers) stood, in twos and threes and fours, in their Cub Scout uniforms and with their Cub Scout faces, totally unprepared, as is the way with American he-men, for anything that could not be settled with a club or a fist or a gun.

Terrible how much this text is still relevant, might have been written today. This would not have surprised Baldwin--he acknowledges more than once that things may never change in America--though I imagine it might have saddened him.

The Fire Next Time contains two separate nonfiction pieces, one a letter to Baldwin's nephew, the sort of message or discussion African Americans have with their younger family members that white people don't. The second is an elegant "Letter from a Region in My Mind" that explores the author's coming to (and leaving) religion as a way to discuss race and racism in America. It is, ostensibly, a solution, though perhaps an impossible one.

I couldn't possibly capture Baldwin's argument in a brief synopsis, nor do I want to. His prose is beautiful and crystal clear, unflinching yet humane. He's my favorite kind of arguer, one who acknowledges from where other points of view are coming while advocating for his own position. It's been too long since I first read him, and I won't make that mistake again.

A lucid exploration of poetry and poets that would be useful for beginners, teachers, and veteran poets. If you're interested in Japanese poetry, you'll also be in luck as the author has done some translation work in that area, and at least two chapters make use of her knowledge. Overall, she uses poems and poets from a variety of countries and eras to illustrate her points, and she's never confusing. These essays are illuminating and inspiring. The next time I teach poetry (crossing fingers), I'll be sure to incorporate material from this book.

Sometimes I think I've read all the major arguments that can be made in support of women and their intelligence and creativity, and then, of course, I read someone like Virginia Woolf and this text I should have encountered long ago. I don't agree with all her arguments as I understand them upon a first reading, but her setup is clever, her writing as always is sharp and beautiful, her voice engaging and regal and personable at the same time. I'll definitely return to this, and it's a must read for feminists, writers, and Woolf fans.