Word: reader
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When Alexander presents personal statements like this one or anecdotes of the people who knew Plath best, the reader receives moments of illumination, and a better understanding of the circumstances in which she lived. Too often, however, Alexander draws glib conclusions that are plainly intrusive: "She realized just how disappointing the Mademoiselle experience had been. And, in an act of transference, she came to see herself as having disappointed others...
Alexander's unsubstantiated psychoanalyzing is unproductive. His constant attention to "novelistic" narrative frustrates any attempt to engage directly in Plath's experiences, which are powerful enough to speak to the reader without Alexander's amplification...
...prelude to her death. In doing so the author seems to be responding to the cult-like obsession which has surrounded Plath's premature and tragic suicide. By contrast, when Alexander quotes a critic who maintains that The Ariel Poems are ultimately "works of great artistic purity," the reader realizes that Plath's texts need not be considered solely as an explanation of her demise...
Alexander could not quote extensively from Plath's work, as that would require cooperation of the estate. When the reader does, however, run across the poet's own words, they are always memorable. She speaks of America as the "land of milk & honey & spindryers." And when asked to comment on vital issues of the day, Plath describes herself as preoccupied with "the incalculable genetic effects of fallout...and the terrifying, mad, omnipotent marriage of big business and the military in America." The quotes effectively lure the reader back to the power of Plath's words, reminding that she was first...
...cancellation of American Psycho sends a message to the would-be artist- "sensitivity" and "decency" should be valued more than honesty. Ellis may not be able to shock the reader, or to show our society anything new. Americans are too far gone for that. But if Ellis can show his readers a mirror of themselves, his work should be available for those who are not afraid to look...