this is a nice reading report, tho modesty forbade Stephen to speak overmuch of his performance (jeepers, I wrote about my one public reading last year!) (and I'd do it again). I think he hits some nails squarely regarding Beverly Dahlen's work. not to say I've read it fully, it is a work of time as the best stuff is, but A Reading is a dynamic, full scale flung thing into the scurry and jump of our premium present. at the least, it should be read alongside My Life, not as women's lit, not as bio, not in sequestering terms, but as a work of this age, one of the standards in the repetoire, or whatever squeeze of the generational fruit. a great picture of Dahlen in the 1st collection of these Readings (published by Stephen himself), studiously typing away at a typewriter. why's this picture so great? it's the sense of transmission one senses. out of typewriter clatter, with a persistent incubation and ferrying, the work goes on. that's a lovely integrity to regale. I'd like to have heard/seen this event, for Stephen's contribution as well as Beverly's.