Customer Reviews

Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the 17th Century to the Present

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Faderman has compiled a homosexual 'tour de force' with this anthology. Ranging from Emily Dickinson to Audre Lorde to Pat Califia, this generous volume ecompasses psychoanalytic theory (Sigmund Freud), historical documents, a play, poetry, and short stories. The poetic inclusions offer the largest assortment of both encoded and straightforward lesbian poetry that is available in one book. Faderman's notes for each author offer insight (the clitoral imagery in Emily Dickinson's poetry, Angelina Weld Grimke's background). The short stories are humorous, romantic, sexy, sad, and touching in turn. Altogether this book is worth much more than its price because it offers many hours of entertaining reading for any woman who has ever been attracted to another woman.

Just as the back cover says, Chloe Plus Olivia is "certain to become the reference point from which all subsequent studies of lesbian writing will begin". Lillian Faderman has done a wonderful job (and a great deal of homework) putting together this compendium of lesbian work. There are a few things, however, one should realize about this book. It only contains excerpts, not necessarily entire works--for obvious reasons, as she often cites novels. Therefore, it should be treated as a reference guide, not a source of great lesbian literature. Secondly, Faderman admits she dealt only with European and North American writers. I'm not faulting her for this; I simply wanted to point out that there are no selections from Asians, Latinas, or Native American writers. My favorite aspect of this book is that it contains interpretation and criticism. Though I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself, I always eagerly devour other scholars' opinions, especially in this particular area of study. Ms. Faderman introduced hours of new reading besides the obvious Willa Cather and Audre Lourde--but I still had to go to the library and get the actual books.

This is an excellent source for any readers wanting to either sample or begin a deeper study of feminist/women's/lesbian literature. It does a great job of putting each work that it presents into historical perspective, giving the reader a connection with the author. For readers concerned about extremist or impulsive editors labeling every work ever written by a woman as "lesbian," I don't think this anthology should hold many fears. The editor is careful to classify each work, so that this anthology becomes not so much a lesbian anthology as it does an anthology of women's writings on women's relationships--from friendships to sexual relationships. I hope in time this anthology will come to be used in colleges and universities, because it has much to offer literary study in general. At the same time, it's not stuffy or overly "academic," so please don't shy away just because you hated your high school English textbook!