Susan Sontag brushes by through this wonderful
stringy text, mush-mouthed with flavored gossip
and a nicely balanced personal feel. So expect a bit less Sontag
and much more Alfred Chester, Paul Bowles,
Ralph Pomeroy, Frank O'Hara and May Swenson —
none as striking looking as Sontag some might
say, but all of them gay and enriched.
The sincerity Field shows to someone like the all
but forgotten Alfred Chester is quite stunning,
revealing a care the author will give to each chapter.
Field is still with us, marvelously at 96 years of age.
I've always considered him out of the Grove Press
stable: hip, smart, and telling truths.
[ BA ]
University of Wisconsin Press
2005
