THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON, INCLUDING VARIANT READINGS CRITICALLY COMPARED WITH ALL KNOWN MANUSCRIPTS. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson. 3 vols. Cambridge, Mass., and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, nd. [A single-volume reprint of the original 1955 3-vol. edition]. ISBN 0-674-67601-7 HBK.

Prior to the appearance of Johnson's great variorum edition of Emily Dickinson in 1955, an edition which was the first to offer readers accurate texts of her complete poems, it was not possible to arrive at a just estimation of her tremendous achievement, an achievement that places her at the forefront of the ranks of the world's greatest poets. Because of the highly idiosyncratic nature of her poems, all earlier editors had felt obliged, to some extent or other, and in order to make them more acceptable to the public, to normalize them by adding titles, smoothing her rhymes, changing words, regularizing punctuation, and relineating them; some editors even went so far as to remove entire stanzas. It becomes a tribute to the power of her poems that, despite this savage treament they somehow survived, and there are many readers, even today, who have grown to love these mutilated versions without ever realizing just how far removed they are from her originals.

Although Johnson himself wasn't entirely free of the slash-and-burn approach to ED's texts - since he apparently felt that readers weren't yet ready for the peculiar lineation that we find in Emily Dickinson's own handwritten versions of the poems - he should nevertheless be credited with having brought the worst of it to an end, and for having given us texts that are closer to the originals than ever before. He is also to be credited with having established an approximate chronological order for the 1775 poems in his edition, and for having provided us with a convenient way of referring to these untitled poems by giving each of them a number, the well-known 'Johnson numbers' which are still standard today. Each numbered poem has been transcribed exactly as it is found in the manuscripts, though with his editorial choice of variant and with lineation normalized. Below each poem comes a list of variants, information about the poem's manuscript source/s, and its publication history. The poems are preceded by 70 pages of Introductory material, which include 20 pages of very interesting photographic facsimiles in illustration of ED's varied writing styles, and the book is rounded out with an Appendix, a Subject Index, and an Index of First Lines.

The present version is an undated reprint, in one volume, of the original 1955 3-volume edition, and is a substantial book of over 1300 pages weighing in at a hefty 4lbs plus. Given the fantastic price of the book, I was amazed to discover that, although bound in full cloth, instead of the pages being sewn in signatures it has been given a glued spine which is nowhere near strong enough to hold the weight of all these pages. Although I'm pretty careful with books, the brand-new copy I examined split at the spine the first time I opened it. Anyone who is interested in the Johnson variorum would be well advised to search for a copy of the much better produced earlier and stitched 3-volume version. Although the present book deserves more than 5 stars for its content, it deserves far less for its poor physical makeup.

As a contribution to scholarship, Johnson's variorum was a magnificent achievement for its time, and helped greatly in establishing Emily Dickinson's reputation. But much has come to light since 1955, and R. W. Franklin's richer 1998 variorum (which unlike the Johnson provides details of the original lineation) may now be said to have superseded it. Details of the Franklin variorum are as follows:

THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON : VARIORUM EDITION. Edited by R. W. Franklin. 3 vols. Cambridge, Mass., and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-674-67622X HBK.

This is an excellent book for anyone who LOVES Emily Dickinson. Although it does not contain all the different versions of her poems, it is comprehensively edited to have the version of each known poem that is believed to be Dickinson's most complete and revised. This edition also seem to have the most complete collection of poems--1,789-- compared to the other "complete poems". However, if you are looking for an edition for studious reasons, this edition does have different numbering for the poems than the ones usually used (the editor claims them to be in the most accurate chronological order possible).
The binding of this book is VERY nice and has its own ribbon for marking pages. Definitely a nice book.

THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON : Reading Edition. Edited by R. W. Franklin. 692 pp. Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-674-67624-6 (hbk.)

When it comes to choosing an edition of Emily Dickinson's poems, we need to be very careful. Selections of her poems have appeared in many editions, and the earlier ones - which are still being reprinted - often contain extensively edited and revised versions of her poems which do not give us what she actually wrote.

Her poems are so unusual, in terms of their diction, meters, grammar, and punctuation, that earlier editors felt obliged to replace her characteristic dash with more conventional punctuation, and to regularize and smooth out her texts to make them more acceptable to readers of the time.

In fact, it was only when Thomas H. Johnson's editions appeared that readers were finally given an accurate version of the original texts, with Emily Dickinson's diction and punctuation restored.

Johnson produced two different editions of the poems. The first, a 3-volume Variorum Edition (1955), includes all of her many variants, since Emily Dickinson often added alternate words to her drafts and in many cases seems never to have decided on a final reading. These variants, though extremely interesting to scholars, enthusiasts, and advanced students of ED, are not really necessary in an edition for the general reader.

What the general reader needs is an edition in which the editor, after closely examining the manuscripts and taking into account all relevant factors, gives what he feels is one sensible and acceptable reading, and this is what Johnson gave us in the second edition he prepared, his Reader's edition (details of which appear below).

R. W. Franklin has followed the same procedure as Johnson. In other words, readers can feel confident that in both the present edition and in the Johnson, they have been given (insofar as it's possible to get her idiosyncratic manuscript drafts over into typography) at least one accurate reading of ED's original draft.

Those who would like to look at the variants can always consult Johnson's Variorum (1955), or R. W. Franklin's more recent Variorum (1998). Better still, if they can, they might take a look at R. W. Franklin's sumptuous 2-volume 'The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson' (1981), which gives photographic facsimiles of many of her manuscripts.

Emily Dickinson is a very great poet. Personally I think that in some ways she is the greatest poet of all. In the present edition we have been given accurate texts of 1789 of her poems, arranged so far as was possible in chronological order of composition.

Franklin's is a scholarly edition, based on his Variorum, which should serve the general reader well enough for most ordinary purposes. Besides the poems it also contains a brief Introduction, two Appendices, and an Index of First Lines.

This beautifully produced and superbly printed Franklin (which contains 14 more poems than the earlier Johnson) will give you access to a body of poems that are so far above the ordinary run of poems that we really ought to have another word for them.

Just as a prism breaks up light into a band of colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet - and their infinite gradations, so do Emily Dickinson's poems become, as it were, a prism which captures the white light of reality, a reality which as it flows through the prism of her poem explodes into a multiplicity of meanings.

It is the rich suggestiveness of her poems, a suggestiveness which generates an incredible range of meanings, that prevents us from ever being able to say (to continue the metaphor) that a given poem is 'about red' or 'about blue,' because her poems, as US critic Robert Weisbuch has pointed out, are in fact about _everything_. This is what makes her so unique, and this is why she appeals to every kind of reader (or certainly to open-minded ones) and even to children.

Emily Dickinson's poetry is one of the wonders of the world. Whether you select the Franklin or the Johnson edition, it will become a book that you will cherish, a golden book and endless source of pleasure and inspiration that you will find yourself returning to again and again.

For those who may be interested, details of Johnson's Reader's edition are as follows:

THE COMPLETE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson. 784 pp. Boston : Little, Brown, 1960 and Reissued. ISBN: 0316184136 (pbk.)

Richard Sewall skillfully amasses a large shuffling pile of letters promising insight into the true Emily Dickinson. Starting the book left me hopeful for great things to come. He methodically, almost puritanically, reviews the lives surrounding and including the Dickinson family piling the letters upon each other. Yet, in the end, what possibly made Emily Dickinson withdraw into her room and from the world? Forced to abandon suitors by her Father, rejection by Sue after a brief gay encounter, agoraphobia? Any and all possibilities are buried under the letters and placed in obscure footnotes at best. Emily Dickinson is possibly the greatest poet from North America, and probably was a Gandhi-like reincarntion for the feminist movement in the United States; yet "The Life of Emily Dickinson" doesn't deliver through Richard Sewall's storm of letters.

Richard Sewall's biography of Emily Dickinson, first published almost thirty years ago, is deeply researched and beautifully written. For anyone interested in the life of the great poet, it is indispensable.

But this biography suffers from the same fate as other studies of Dickinson, namely the poet's own secretive nature. There is a distressing lack of sources available about Emily's life and so scholars are forced to over-emphasize the few that do exist. This applies most notably to the writings of Mabel Todd, mistress of Emily's brother Austin and the source of much of what we 'know' about Emily. Whether you view Todd as a well-meaning interloper or a selfish adulterer, her impact upon Dickinson scholarship has been enormous. Sewall acknowledges his reliance upon her writings, and even their undoubted lack of objectivity. But then he proceeds to accept everything she wrote, enthusiastically passing Todd's opinions to the reader under the guise of his own genuine scholarship.

But let the reader beware of such phrases as 'may imply', 'may have been', 'seems almost unavoidable', 'would seem to be', and so on. These abound, particularly in Sewall's discussion of Emily and Austin's wife Susan. He relies almost exclusively upon Todd's writings, which are understandably biased against her lover's wife.

Sewall provides an admirable portrait of Emily's ancestors and of her early years. There is also insightful analyses of many poems, a discussion of the books she loved, and the mystery of 'The Master Letters'. It is only when coming to her adult life, with Emily's dramatic retirement from the outside world, that Sewall is forced into speculation. He writes, "The whole truth about Emily Dickinson will elude us always; she seems almost willfully to have seen to that." And he is correct. The one blot upon his otherwise fine work is that he couldn't accept this simple fact.

Emily Dickinson is easily my favorite poet (also see my review on "Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson", which every poetry lover should own). I took a college course that focused on Emily Dickinson and these were the two books used for that course (there were optional books, which I also read, but nowhere near as good as these). The author's analysis of some poems can be questioned (whose cannot?), but the wealth of material presented is incredible. This is THE reference book about her life. So, if you want details about the woman behind the beautiful words, then get this book. Also consider visiting her house in Amherst (MA), which still has tours during the warmer months. All three things will give you a very good look into her writing.

This book is a handy book with nice pictures for starters . There should be more materials than these as the pages are filled with more pictures than words and too little explainations. There are too little detail or advice or tips said about stargazing as the main subject. Conslusion: Good, but should contain about 50% more materials and advices/details.

If you are ages 10-15, or an adult who wants to get "up to speed" on astronomy-speak in under a 5 hour read -- this is the book to own! This chronology of major astrological events to look for in the sky which comes at the end of the book is outdated by a few years due to the publish date, but the sky charts (actually full page photos) -- specifically and only for summer months in the U.S. -- were actually usable! Also useful was the section on purchasing a telescope for a novice or even decent binoculars (a $50 investment to start was recommended, imagine that!). Also, a handy refernce for dates of meteor showers is a great thing for kids in large groups. And for a freeze-baby who lives in a northern climate who only takes the time to stargaze on warm, summer, cloudless nights, this is the only book I need.

My third year of owning this great night time aid has only increased my appreciation of what lies above. This book has great reference guides for planetary location, eclipse tables, lunar maps, and enough material for the person observing with binicoulars (which I started out with), to someone with an intermediate telescope (I moved up to a 6" reflector because I wanted to see more of what is presented). The lay-out of the book is very straight forward, and any one may pick it up and begin to locate everything pictured. Owners of small refracter telescopes will find renewed interest in what they will be able to view with the help of this book. A must have companion if you starting out, an old friend as time goes by.

On the cover of this book, it quotes Madame Christie's words:

Few detective stories baffle me nowadays, but Mr. Carr's always do.

Madame Christie surely was baffled because Carr never gave away any clue until the very end. Carr's style is more like the old school of Wilkie Collins, who enjoyed telling tales rather than examing footprints or cigarette ashes. While Carr tried to draw readers' suspicion to a certain woman, the title partly gives the real criminal away.

Now let's take a look at the 2 mysteries in this book.

One is about a healthy girl being scared half dead in her sleep. In my mind, any ghost, real or fake, could not possibly have such a strong effect. While I prepared to ridicule Carr at the end, he gave me a total surprise, and I couldn't help admiring how smart it was, because it was totally human's hands, and the idea was so practical that you are bound to be scared half dead no matter how you lack imagination.

While the other one, about some one being stabbed in a tower, is the typical awkward Carr-ish stunt which can be also found in a few other novels (e.g. 3 coffins). I can never believe that a dying man can do so much stuff before death. While a sword wound certainly does not enhance one's intelligence, what the man did is such incredibly smart that it deceives every living soul except Dr. Fell. Even if I were thoroughly mistaken, at least Carr should give coroner's words: how much strength and intelligence still remains after the man receives the wound.

There are also other weak points which are left to readers as further comments will give the whole plot away. In summary, this book is worth reading for the sake of the clever mystery.

One of the darkest and most somber entries in the Dr. Fell series, HE WHO WHISPERS is as briskly written and clever as Carr's best. Unfortunately, the plot hinges on a turn of coincidence so jarring it fails to be wholly convincing. Nevertheless, the impossible crime scenario is resolved with admirable ingenuity. A great read.

I have gone off on "jags" reading Rex Stout or Agatha Christie, or others, but I always come back with a hunger for John Dickson Carr. This is not easy-- his books are very old and only Amazon provides a good source.

This is one of the very best by Carr. What draws me to Carr is the mastery of mood, tone, and atmosphere-- a brooding, semi-supernatural, atmosphere of the Gothic-- of terror, of raw fear-- of people literally frightened to death. To put it crudely, it's like "Sherlock Holmes" meets "Stephen King."

In this novel we have a fabulous beginning with an "impossible murder" that seems to have no explanation, a "femme fatale" woman, the setting of a ruined Norman tower in France, and a most sympathetic leading character, Miles. Dr. Gideon Fell is a colorful and delightful detective who usually enters the story at least a third into the book.

Frankly, the conclusions sometimes let the reader down -- or seem to -- because Carr's skill at "atmosphere" has got the poor fellow so on the edge of his chair with anxiety that no ending could totally meet the expectations.

This book-- like many Carr books -- has a neat love interest-- a totally improbable love between a convalescent British gentleman and a French "woman of the streets." The love interest alone drew me through some of the chapters.

Carr's style and descriptive skills are excellent. He will describe a setting with original turns of phrase. He will paint word-pictures that force one to reread the paragraph more than once, savoring the writer's skills. He's a highly literate man with a control of English that would have made him successful in writing more conventional novels.

This is probably the best Gideon Fell novel I have read, and one of the two or three best novels by Dickson Carr I have read. I urge you to enjoy the book, and wish you, er, "unpleasant dreams."

I highly recommend this book. Once I started reading this book I was unable to put it down. This book centers on several characters Tilja the granddaughter of Meena, Tahl the grandson of Alnor, along with Meena and Alnor. And their quest to save their valley, which had been, tucked away form the outside world for many generations. This valley had been kept safe through powerful magic, which was now starting to disappear. The task to leave the valley and search for a magician powerful enough to save them falls to Tilja, Tahl, Meena and Alnor. As they travel on their journey Tilja learns that she posses the powers to save her valley with the help of the Ropemaker. The Ropemaker is the only magician in the empire who is able to reverse the evils of the empire and with Tilja's help save her valley. I found the way, which the story was written to be captivating. I recommend this book for any teenage student male or female. The story is on of courage and discovery something that I feel appeals to both male and female students.

The Valley is the only passage between the horsemen of the plain and the Empire, which means that it is constantly under attack. The residents of the Valley can¡¦t withstand all these killing and raiding; therefore, they send some of their people on a long, difficult journey to find a magician powerful enough to get them some peace. Two people, Reyel Ortahlson and Dirna Urlasdaughter, found a powerful magician, Faheel, and he promised the people of the Valley peace for twenty generations. After twenty generations the magic wore off and the Valley fell again in turmoil. Tilja, Tahl, Meena, and Alnor decided that the must find the magician again to restore peace. With extraordinary luck and many breath-taking adventures, they found Faheel on an island. However, Faheel is too weak to do what they asked for, he is already on his deathbed. Before he passed away, Faheel gave them a magical ring and told them to give it to another powerful magician, the Ropemaker, who can restore peace in the Valley with the help of the ring.
I had a great time reading this book. Every book that has to do with magic has to have an explanation of how magic works. The explanation in this book is very reasonable and makes perfect sense. This makes the book a lot easier to understand and enjoy. The author tells of how magic is flowing everywhere, and only gifted people can make use of this magic. When a person is more gifted than others, he/she in turn can take control of larger amounts of magic at a time. Nevertheless, when a person is overwhelmed by the magic of another, he/she will lose their gift to use magic and can very possibly die at the same time.
My favorite part of this book is when Tilja realized the power she possesses. Before, she had thought that there were only two kinds of magicians: ones that remake the magic in the air before they use it and ones that simply use the magic in the air without remaking it. When magic is remade it becomes more powerful. On her journey to find Faheel, Tilja discovered that whatever remade magic makes contact with her is reversed into natural magic. With this power Tilja is able to protect herself from all remade magical attacks. Not only that, she can also suck away all the magic in any magician without getting hurt. Tilja decided that she must be the third kind of magician.

Ropemaker is the mainly the story of Tilja and her family, who for generations have carried out a ritual supposed to keep their valley in peace- the only proof they have of this coming from a story from long, long ago.

There is no magic in the valley, and what magic there is belongs to Tilja and Tahl's familys. Their ability to listen to the waters and trees has been in them for generations, only Tilja discovers that the ability seems to have skipped her.

But when something goes wrong in the valley, she and her grandmother are the ones that are sent to travel to an unknown place in search of help, along with Tahl and his grandfather.

Though at times confusing, Ropemaker is beautifully written with exciting turns of the plot. Tilja becomes more important than she ever could have realized, and her grandmother undergoes a transformation that makes Tilja realize how precious youth is.

Any fan of fantasy will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Dickson has developed a series of books that allows the reader of today to say what if...? This unique viewpoint allows for the writer to put a 21st century spin on a classic fantasy novel. Characters are real in a fatastic world. This particular book puts Jim the Dragon Knight in the world of King Arthur.

An enjoyable read.

This is a new adventure that differs greatly from the rest in the series. Even if you have disliked the rest of the series you will surely enjoy this one. The dragon knight returns to Lyonesse but has a completely different battle at hand. What makes this book so exciting is the involvement of the real knights of old like Pellinor, Galahad, and more. This excellent book involves Jim, Daffyd, Brian, and Hob of the main characters but even better is the involment from the Arthurian knights. The story goes that Jim has once again become involved in a battle with the dark powers. The difference is that the dark powers have also recruted some of those from the Arthurian legend. This book is sure to please any who has read this far into the series and even those who just want to read this single book. Dickson has written a standout book in his famous series and this is deffinatly it.

A lot of people seem to have some problem with this book, but frankly, I thought it was a change of pace. Jim is still utterly himself, but he's starting to get comfortable with who and what he is. He came in contact with the greatest knights of all time, and held his own by doing things on his own terms. What I'm looking forward to is how he handles the greatest challenge of all - fatherhood. I can't wait to see how Dickson has his dragon knight cope with being "Daddy" to his adopted mideveil son. I'm sure both author and character will rise to the occaision.

Color of Horses is a fantastic picture book of various horse colors. It is not a book on color genetics. Instead, Color of Horses is concerned with the physical makeup of each hair, how that reflects light and thus produces color. Another color concern is how the various colors withstand the effects of hard work and sun. A great picture book with a unique slant on horse color.

I really enjoyed the lovely paintings in the book. They portray the horse colors in an accurate way. I just would not be too quick to believe the author's explanation of these colors. There really is not much valuable information on genetics which other books explain much more thoroughly. But, even so, I would recommend the book to anyone looking for pictures of solid colored horses.

Veterinarian Ben Green devoted a great many years to his in-depth study of equine coat colors. He explains each color in a simple, direct way, avoiding the confusion that other authors tend to employ in their explainations. Dr. Green explains density of the pigmentation of the hide and hair for each color, including an illustration of what each color looks like under a microscope. The density of the pigment, combined with light refraction, creates the color seen by the eye. Dr. Green further explains the hardiness of each color, how well it stands up to heat and saddle/harness pressure, and why. No "silly" names for various coat colors--not in this book. Dr. Green's approach is very professional and very direct.

This is a fun book but, I must admit, that I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping for something geared towards adults (or, at the least, towards an intelligent teen). This book is specificially geared towards children (i.e., a bright 8 year old or above). It is certainly a friendly book filled with colorful (if somewhat unimaginative) drawings. As well, it covers many of the issues relevant to the subject (e.g., why movie aliens shouldn't be regarded as realistic). My only complaint, once you correlate it to its intended audience, is that it does speak authoritatively more often then it should for such a speculative topic (e.g., it claims that we can expect that most intelligent species should have a humanoid template which is, to say the least, a debatable position).

Be that as it may, I would certainly recommend it if you want to introduce a child to the topic or if you know of a child that is already interested. For adults, however, I'd give it a miss.

This is the perfect book to use with middle school and high school students. I use this as a reference for cross-curricular projects with science fiction, science, language arts, and government. The background and general information is not too much for students to digest and the illustrations are fabulous. When required to come up with feasible life-forms for various planet types, the breakdown of possibilities for "alien" senses helps students to consider new approaches. The specific planet descriptions are also immensely helpful, giving students something to build on, opening their minds to the limitless possibilities of extraterrestrial life. This is the singlarly essential building block for endless projects. I wish I could afford a class set. Marvelous!

This is not your sci-fi book on aliens. This book is more like "Audbon Society Guide To Birds" of extraterrestrial biology. Dickinson and Schaller start by discussing our contemporary views of aliens and shows the fallicies behind it. They then explore places where life could be found. Then there is a discussion of biology, rules of life that would apply anywhere in the universe. Then, one by one, Dickinson and Schaller discuss possible inhabited worlds and what life might have eveolved there. Everything from gas giants to ocean worlds to ice planets are discussed. Then, inorganic life, like intellegent comets and macronulear life is discussed. Finally, to sum it up, the possibilty of contact is discussed. Throughout the book, a scientific aprouch is used, but the book is still very easy to read. Anybody interested in the possibilty of life on other worlds, and anybody who would like to see what theis life might be like, definatley should read this book.

Having read many of her books about her life in rural Maine, I was disappointed with this one. It is written in the same simple style which is enjoyable to read but the content was not as good. Most of this book is about the various people who lived near the author. Discussions on their personality quirks and the mundain details of their lives are not really all that interesting. The stories are only intersting to those who know these people. I enjoy reading books like this to learn what life is like for others is situations different from mine. I learned nothing new with this one. I am glad I did not read this book first or I never would have read her others.

After two wonderful books (1942 & 1946) largely about herself and her relationship with the northwoods of Maine, Louise Rich was wise to shift her focus to the strong character, ethics and coping skills of her remote neighbors. My Neck of the Woods is a real treasure.

Louise Dickinson Rich was one of a kind and this is one of her best. This is one of those books that makes you a part of her fascinating and down to earth world.

I don't doubt that it's possible to enjoy Emily Dickinson's poems in editions like this. But you should be aware that you are not really reading what she wrote. You are reading what earlier editors _wish_ she had written - a sort of 'tidied-up' and regularized version, the badly tampered-with-text of a genius by those who weren't.

In a way, the situation is a bit like the one that prevails with regard to food. Would you rather eat natural food or genetically modified food? Maybe the modified food doesn't taste any different, but it might be doing harmful things to you that the author of real food never intended. So why take a risk when we can have the real thing ?

There are two major editors who can be relied on for accurate texts of ED's poems. These are Dickinson scholars R. W. Franklin and Thomas H. Johnson. Both produced large Variorum editions for scholars, along with reader's editions of the Complete Poems for the ordinary reader. Details of their respective reader's editions are as follows.

THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON : Reading Edition. Edited by R. W. Franklin. 692 pp. Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-674-67624-6 (hbk.)

THE COMPLETE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson. 784 pp. Boston : Little, Brown, 1960 and Reissued. ISBN: 0316184136 (pbk.)

For those who don't feel up to tackling the Complete Poems, there is Johnson's abridgement of his Reader's edition, an excellent selection of what he feels were her best poems:

FINAL HARVEST : Emily Dickinson's Poems. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson. 352 pages. New York : Little Brown & Co, 1997. ISBN: 0316184152 (paperbound).

Friends, do yourself a favor and get Johnson's edition. Why accept a watered-down version when you can have the real thing?

This book is awesome! Everyone should buy it.

This is a superb edition of Dickinson's poems. It is "reader friendly" with updated punctuation (which purists may not like) with an excellent selection. The Billy Collins introduction is outstanding, being highly informative and entertaining without any pretensions whatsoever. He adds great insight into Dickinson's use of common meter, language, metaphor, and other techniques. Grab a bottle of water and an apple and spend a great afternoon or two with this exceptional volume.