The Dig received the National Poetry Series Award. Many of these poems, at once charmed and frightening, have an unexpected effect, like the urgent and luckysight of a child's hand waving through the rubble of an earthquake. . . . Emanuel has managed to lock a great deal of humanity into this humorous, inspiring, and honest record of a place too quickly forgotten. This figurative language, however, is not excessive, not contrived. Her energy simply overflows.
Every line is rich, yet spare.
Every word is cogent. The old expatriate could hardly have wished for more cogent illumination of his theory regarding the sculpturesque qualities of poetry than the lucid planes and surfaces that Emanuel manages to strike from language. Many of these poems, at once charmed and frightening, have an unexpected effect, like the urgent and lucky sight of a child's hand waving through the rubble of an earthquake. She's right, of course. Poems remain, ultimately, inadequate.