PARADISE, PIECE BY PIECE

Molly Peacock here performs her memoir of her search for self-fulfilment as a childless female poet. Artists should not write about themselves. Their art itself is their best autobiography. As Samuel Beckett once remarked, "It's bad enough having to create this stuff. Must I talk about it, too?" Peacock obviously doesn't agree and, to prove her point, has written a graceful, often humorous recap of her development as an artist, woman and human being. She reads a bit stridently, though with expression, passion and personality. Unfortuantely, it is not a particularly engaging personality. Whatever charm she has given her text as a poet, she takes away as a presence. She comes off as a not overly charitable narcissist who has deemed herself sensitive and wise without proving it to the listener. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 99]