Here are luminous sketches of characters she has met, of transgressive and often tragic women - prostitutes and mothers, spinsters and celebrities, famous writers and the homeless - that illuminate the era's racism, sexism, and poverty. Above all, here is prose blurring into poetry, language to lose...

Here are luminous sketches of characters she has met, of transgressive and often tragic women - prostitutes and mothers, spinsters and celebrities, famous writers and the homeless - that illuminate the era's racism, sexism, and poverty. Above all, here is prose blurring into poetry, language to lose - and perhaps to find - yourself in.