Thursday, December 15, 2011

The Wild Girls Plus-Ursula Le Guin

The Wild Girls Plus


Ursula Le Guin

PM Press, Nov 1 2011, $12.00

www.pmpress.org

ISBN: 9781604864038



“The Wild Girls.” Bidh informs the girls in their Allulu language that they no longer are part of the Crown City. Chergos’ daughter and Dead Ayu’s first daughter are now Dirt Girls who if smart will keep their cherry intact until they marry wealth and begat Gods with their Crown husbands. Renamed Vui and Modh, if they want to survive they must accept who they are now and not what they were at the bottom of the food chain.



"Staying Awake While We Read." Ms. Le Guin’s condemnation essay makes a case that corporate publishing firms care nothing about the golden geese and the readers except as a sham; as all that matters is profit at any cost to the literature.



"Outspoken Author Interview." Terry Blissom interviews Ms. Le Guin who revels at being an octogenarian with a strong defense of being against the avarice power-mongers who destroy environments in someone else’s neighborhood and send other people’s children to fight their profitable wars whether it is 1960s and 1970s Vietnam or Bush 41 and 43 Iraq.



The Conversation of the Modest' is an essay that lives up its title as Ms. Le Guin espouses on what is modesty in a world in which fifteen minutes of fame on social media is sought and revered.



There is more to this interesting compilation. The novella is timely with its fascinating look at the tribes along the East River. While the rest of the strong collection also focuses on Ms. Le Guin’s issues of concern for the past five decades which include the environment, women’s rights in a capitalist cast system and war only good for the moguls.



Harriet Klausner

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