EMILY DICKINSON

I would give this book five stars except that (at least on my Kindle) the text of each poem appears as a skinny ribbon down the right hand side. To make it readable, you need to switch from portrait mode to landscape mode. I bought the Kindle book because I wanted a selection of works by one of my favorite poets that I could carry around or read in bed. I also wanted poems as close to the way Dickinson intended. Most Kindle editions use the posthumous 1890 texts edited by two friends of the poet who sought to make Dickinson more conventional; conventional is exactly what Dickinson was *not*. Also beware collections sorted by theme--again, not the way Dickinson intended. McNeil's wonderful volume uses the texts of the definitive Thomas H. Johnson's "Complete Poems."

She now goes with me everywhere I go and the book is an interesting selection of her work. What intricate, convoluted stuff she wrote!

All poems are aligned to the right of the page, badly. In most poems in this book, parts of the words are missing, leaving you guessing. Poetry I could read was excellent, just a pity about the TERRIBLE layout.

Decided that I don't like her work though I am sure others might

I bought this book because Dickinson is one of my favourite poets and I already know her work well. If you are coming to her as a stranger, you are in for a treat.