All we need of hell
Subtitle: poems
By: by Rika Lesser.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Denton, Tex
Language: eng
Number of pages: 87
Subjects: Manic-depressive illness -- Poetry; Women -- Psychology -- Poetry
Description: Rika Lesser through-composes her books of poems; they are not albums but unities. They are meant to be read in one sitting and can be fearfully intense. In Etruscan Things she followed the circular map of the Etruscan heavens. In All We Need of Hell she seeks to escape the locked boxes of psychiatric wards and medical categorizations. When she succeeds - and she must - it is through art to life.

These poems will inevitably be compared to those by other poets who have struggled with depressive illnesses. Rarely, however, does a poet address such topics as illness, mental illness, suicide, and death as singlemindedly as Lesser does here.