Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write

In Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write, Gayle Brandeis uses the metaphor of fruit to invite women to write using all of their embodied sensuality. Most chapterlets begin with a poem or quotation, almost always mentioning some form of fruit; Brandeis then takes up issues as pragmatic as writer's block and as intangible as ""meaning."" Even her discussion of writer's block, however, is submerged in an ethereal mist. (To those suffering from this writer's curse, she suggests, ""Lose yourself in color. Smell five different flowers. Eat a mystery fruit."") The book is beautifully written, with gorgeous usage of language and metaphor, but its ultimate effect seems abstract despite Brandeis's emphasis on rootedness and embodiment. (Mar.)