Naked as Eve

Book excerpt: Poetry. Rebecca McClanahan is the author of three previous collections of poetry, including The Intersection of X and Y. Her poems, stories, and essays have appeared in such magazines as Poetry, Georgia Review, Gettysburg Review, and Kenyon Review, and her work was included in The Best American Poetry 1998. Among her awards are a Pushcart Prize, the Wood Prize from Poetry, and the Carter Prize from Shenandoah. These resourceful poems beckon us with their music, subtle wit, and insight into human foibles and desire. The portraits of family and marriage, and her canny meditations on language and the natural world, insinuate themselves in memory and won't let go -- Colette Inez.