Rachel Blau DuPlessis: Life in Handkerchiefs

Life in Handkerchiefs is a tale of female life via vintage hankies mingled with poems and meditations, along with crocheted edging, lace, artificial flower trimmings, and various notions. This book is about growing up in the category "female," resultant curiosities, bizarre vagaries of gender, body thoughts, the quotidian, mother-daughter relationships, life span, and historical and inner life along with a sense (always vital to DuPlessis's work) of the mystery and oddity of existence. Given the various narratives and feelings evoked by "texting" us with thoughts on gender via little scraps of fabric, Life in Handkerchiefs makes a wry gift book in many moods, and telling surprising backstories—jaunty, somber, droll, aphoristic, rueful, yearning, ironic, critical, suspicious, and compassionate.