Science in Your Own Back Yard (review)

Some may argue that the pieces are all too short as most entries are only 2-4 pages in length, but the editors' goal here was to include as many women writers as they could, thereby introducing readers to as many new voices as possible. Another criticism might be that some of the best women writers in the region were excluded (Isabel Zuber and Cathy Smith Bowers being the most obvious exclusions) but this is not the fault of the editors. In fact, most of the best female writers in Appalachia are included in the collection and those who are not don't show up due to length restrictions, copyrights, or other unavoidable obstacles. Ballard and Hudson also cleverly include a section called "More Women Writing in Appalachia, Other Voices to Study," which lists female writers who were not included in the collection but whose work is definitely worthy of being heard. An added treat to this list is that Ballard and Hudson include writers who have not had a book published yet, but show great promise. Listen Here is a must-have for scholars, writers, students, and those who simply love good writing. The best part of the collection is that it seems obvious that the editors truly love Appalachia and its writing and didn't put together thisbook for the glory of publicationbutbecause they really do want these writers to be heard. From its wonderful, haunting cover to its well-chosen design, this collection succeeds in every way except one. The book could have been better if it had been split up into two volumes, which is more the fault of the publisher than the editors. Universitypresses often have to charge a higher price for large books,but this seems to defeat the purpose of a book entitled Listen Here, a collection that should be available for many people to own. If the University Press of Kentucky had committed to two volumes, the staggering price ($45 in hardback) could have been cut in half as well. This is a book that should be a part of required reading in all Appalachian studies and literature classes, but the expensive list price will keep many professors from choosing this text and might keep many readers from purchasing the book. Alower price would have allowed many more readers to hear the voices of the women included in this fine, important collection. —Silas House Leatha Kendrick. Science in Your Own Back Yard. Monterey, KY: Larkspur Press, 2003. 35 pages. Handsewn paperback. $18.00. On the flyleaf of her new collection of poems, Science in Your Own Back Yard Leatha Kendrick quotes theologian, Paul Tillich: "The first duty of 73 love is to listen." Just as Tillich's theology has been called a listening theology, Kendrick's poetry is listening poetry. In the poem "Birthday" she listens to her daughter swimming, young-limbed, and suddenly we hear the poet's visits to the water when she was young, "the roar of memory/against its slick, reflective and sand-polished/shell." However, she refuses to romanticize, also giving voice to "ears stuffed with a hundred cotton/admonishing voices purring/Told you so-no good-you fool.' As in her previous poems, Kendrick brings a special sensitivity to the sounds of the domestic and quotidian: the kitchen, the garden, the hospital waiting room, a house undergoing renovations, and a snow storm, for example. She uses such poems to examine the convoluted realities that almost always lie beneath seeming simplicity. "In Passing" begins straightforwardly enough: "Look, I know the moon/stares down through tonight's/blowing snow grains like time/won't end." However, the middle of the poem brings the reversal faintly implied in the opening lines: "I don't have much/time and such illusions/of endless anything I/still harbor arrive/pinched flat in an envelope." Many of the poems in this collection describe Kendrick's initial encounter with breast cancer and its recurrence. What is most striking is her willingness to palpate her pain without descending into the maudlin or, far worse, peppering us with fanciful denials. She laughs with her daughters at Cosmo Girl's "most embarrassing moments" in a cancer...