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Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose 1979-1985: Selected Prose 1979 -1985
That Adrienne Rich is a not only a major American poet but an incisive, compelling prose writer is made clear once again by this collection, in which she continues to explore the social and political context of her life and art.
Examining the connections between history and the imagination, ethics and action, she explores the possible meanings of being white, female, lesbian, Jewish, and a United States citizen, both at this particular time and through the lens of the past.
255 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1986
About the author
Adrienne Rich
148 books1,619 followersWorks, notably
Diving into the Wreck
(1973), of American poet and essayist Adrienne Rich champion such causes as pacifism, feminism, and civil rights for gays and lesbians.
A mother bore Adrienne Cecile Rich, a feminist, to a middle-class family with parents, who educated her until she entered public school in the fourth grade. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Radcliffe college in 1951, the same year of her first book of poems, A Change of World. That volume, chosen by W. H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award, and her next, The Diamond Cutters and Other Poems (1955), earned her a reputation as an elegant, controlled stylist.
In the 1960s, however, Rich began a dramatic shift away from her earlier mode as she took up political and feminist themes and stylistic experimentation in such works as Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law (1963), The Necessities of Life (1966), Leaflets (1969), and The Will to Change (1971). In Diving into the Wreck (1973) and The Dream of a Common Language (1978), she continued to experiment with form and to deal with the experiences and aspirations of women from a feminist perspective.
In addition to her poetry, Rich has published many essays on poetry, feminism, motherhood, and lesbianism. Her recent collections include An Atlas of the Difficult World (1991) and Dark Fields of the Republic: Poems 1991–1995 (1995).
A mother bore Adrienne Cecile Rich, a feminist, to a middle-class family with parents, who educated her until she entered public school in the fourth grade. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Radcliffe college in 1951, the same year of her first book of poems, A Change of World. That volume, chosen by W. H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award, and her next, The Diamond Cutters and Other Poems (1955), earned her a reputation as an elegant, controlled stylist.
In the 1960s, however, Rich began a dramatic shift away from her earlier mode as she took up political and feminist themes and stylistic experimentation in such works as Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law (1963), The Necessities of Life (1966), Leaflets (1969), and The Will to Change (1971). In Diving into the Wreck (1973) and The Dream of a Common Language (1978), she continued to experiment with form and to deal with the experiences and aspirations of women from a feminist perspective.
In addition to her poetry, Rich has published many essays on poetry, feminism, motherhood, and lesbianism. Her recent collections include An Atlas of the Difficult World (1991) and Dark Fields of the Republic: Poems 1991–1995 (1995).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
March 23, 2015
So, in my mission to read more works by women, I was beyond excited to start Adrienne Rich (especially because of Alison Bechdel's nod of approval for her - I am shameless). Maybe it was mistake to not have started with "Of Woman Born" or "Lies, Secrets and Silence" Imagine my disappointment to see the angry, irrational feminist trope come to life.
Intially I skipped "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" for being way too aggressive. (I also skipped the works that were specific critiques, as I didn't know the original content.) Maybe rightly so, but I later found it is more or less a major work of hers. Oops. Glad to find that the final work in this collection ("Notes toward a Politics of Location") admits it was too narrow-minded. That is the Adrienne Rich I like, the one who is questioning and unsure, but articulates exactly what we are trying to work out. In that way, her work feels ahead of her time and certainly improves over the years.
The essays I most enjoyed were the ones working through her Jewish identity (plus what it means to a WOMAN and FEMINIST and JEWISH and LESBIAN), particularly "Split At the Root: An Essay on Jewish Identity." Her insights were fresh to me - how does a Jewish person operate in the world where one not only faces stupid jokes, or must face the reality of the Holocaust, but has to construct an identity from this isolated information (especially with parents that would rather avoid it!) One could pile this information, plus knowing she was married with children, and this understandably puts her in a strange insider/outsider position with all the benefits of living both lives - one of being "white," one of Jewish; one of heterosexual, one of homosexual; one of passive, the other radical feminism. Her meditations on identity as both important and restricting are my favorite part above all.
Above all, Adrienne Rich has a way with words that I thoroughly enjoy. I found myself copying whole sections onto paper. For example:
While some of her insights may now feel ingrained into feminism, I think there is definitely a place for Adrienne Rich's work now.
Intially I skipped "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" for being way too aggressive. (I also skipped the works that were specific critiques, as I didn't know the original content.) Maybe rightly so, but I later found it is more or less a major work of hers. Oops. Glad to find that the final work in this collection ("Notes toward a Politics of Location") admits it was too narrow-minded. That is the Adrienne Rich I like, the one who is questioning and unsure, but articulates exactly what we are trying to work out. In that way, her work feels ahead of her time and certainly improves over the years.
The essays I most enjoyed were the ones working through her Jewish identity (plus what it means to a WOMAN and FEMINIST and JEWISH and LESBIAN), particularly "Split At the Root: An Essay on Jewish Identity." Her insights were fresh to me - how does a Jewish person operate in the world where one not only faces stupid jokes, or must face the reality of the Holocaust, but has to construct an identity from this isolated information (especially with parents that would rather avoid it!) One could pile this information, plus knowing she was married with children, and this understandably puts her in a strange insider/outsider position with all the benefits of living both lives - one of being "white," one of Jewish; one of heterosexual, one of homosexual; one of passive, the other radical feminism. Her meditations on identity as both important and restricting are my favorite part above all.
Above all, Adrienne Rich has a way with words that I thoroughly enjoy. I found myself copying whole sections onto paper. For example:
“As we all do when young and searching for what we can't name yet, I took what I could use where I could find it. When the ideas or forms we need are banished, we seek their residues wherever we can trace them. But there was a major problem with this. I had been born a woman, and I was trying to think and act as if poetry – and the possibility of making poems – were a universal – a gender-neutral – realm.” (175)
While some of her insights may now feel ingrained into feminism, I think there is definitely a place for Adrienne Rich's work now.
March 5, 2024
This surprisingly contemporary and relevant collection from the 1980s only showed its age in limited ways. Rich's comments on the importance of getting diverse racial and gender perspectives is being played out in our world today. Yet, her analysis of how the dominating perspective supports the wealthy, and the way in which the white male view is considered the norm still feels powerfully accurate. We do hear from different voices in our world, but it's hard to miss that we live in a world where two old white men are the best that the US can offer from a population of 350 million, for the next presidential election. And no one is decrying the lack of choice or wondering where the leaders of the future might be hiding. We have come a long way from where Rich was standing in the 1980s, but we are still dealing with daily instances of women being murdered by their partners, and Roe v Wade has been overturned. It was a bit surreal for me as a reader: my pre-read assumptions were that Rich would be old hat, and my conclusions were that she provided powerful arguments for living in today's world as a woman, as a feminist. Rich is a critical thinker whose analysis is clear-sighted. Ultimately, the reason why her work is still relevant is because she was able to view every person as an entity in and of themselves, not a reflection or a reaction to her, but a person with their own story, their own perspective. That attitude of respect for all continues to make her work relevant and thought-provoking.
Read
April 27, 2018a wonderful pleasant surprise, and a historicizing reminder that writing off this instance of what we perceive now as “second wave” work is an intellectual and political loss. rich writes lovely assertions of poetry and history situated in an unflinching examination of identity. her analysis of tracing honoring and centering the intellectual lineage of women of color as well as self-critique and awareness of the framework then known as simultaneity, i find instructive in terms of how to be a white woman who writes about race without claiming expertise or staking claim over the work of others. she’s not perfect, instead she lets us in on her trying.
January 10, 2026
aquest llibre es podria resumir amb el lema de tot es polític. pensaria un q la teoria feminista hauria anat molt més enllà del q era als 80 però o ella era molt avançada per la seva època o ens gem quedat una mica estancats. l'assaig d heterosexualitat obligatoria i existència lesbiana es increïble, must readddd
m'encanta l'evolució del personatge q es adrienne rich, tk reina referentt <3
Read
August 31, 2012good book of essays. it was interesting how a lot of these essays were a call to look at history through a more feminist vantage point. super necessary if we are to see reality more clearly as it is now. i was especially interested in the essay that reviewed elizabeth bishop's complete poems. i had found most of bishop's poems dense to the point of impenetrability. rich pointed out that, by looking at her life and viewing her poems from framework, looking at her work through a more queer vantage point, and considering that it often dealt with issues of race in brazil...we can start to get a lot more grounding to explore. looking forward to taking a new look at bishop with all this in mind. i'd totally recommend that essay to anyone who's had trouble with bishop but suspects she was saying something important.
March 16, 2015
Too dated to be life-changing, but still relevant enough to be a worthwhile read. Rich is stoic in tone, respectful of history. She is undeniably fair in her concerns and the way in which she considers them. I thought her prose was dull at times - ironically, for the refined level of accuracy - as if her awareness of the complexities within systems of power made her weary of saying anything problematic.
February 24, 2013
This was a formative book for me in my study of poetry and how it can intersect with activism and politics.
December 7, 2016
Reading Rich is a balm and a goad in these post-election times.
November 1, 2021
Interesting and thought-provoking collection of essays on feminism
I found "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" particularly compelling and convincing in suggessting that heterosexuality, like motherhood, needs to be recognised and studied as a political institution through the analysis of several other texts including Kathleen Gough's "The Origin of the Family"
Highlights include:
Acknowledging the repeated struggles of women to resist oppression (their own and that of others) and to change their conditions rather than seeing women and men as equal partners in the making of "sexual arrangements
Acknowledging MacKinnon's argument that taking rape from the realm of 'the sexual' to the realm of 'the violent', allows one to be against it without raising any questions about the extent to which the institution of heterosexuality has defined force as a normal part of 'the preliminaries', never is it asked whether, under conditions of male supremacy, the notion of 'consent' has any meaning
Referencing Barry's argument that the adolescent male sex drive, which, as both young women and men are taught, once triggered cannot take responsibility for itself or take no for a answer becomes the norm and rationale for adult male sexual behaviour: a condition of arrested sexual development
A call for an economics that comprehends the institution of heterosexuality, with its doubled workload for women and its sexual divisions of labour, as the most idealised of economic relations
I also thoroughly enjoyed "Resisting Amnesia: History and Personal Life", which intends to address the whiteness of feminism and encourages a greater readership of Black feminism and "Going There and Being Here", which reflects on the author's time in Nicaragua and the fact that mainstream feminism is rooted in the imperial core of the USA in North America, which includes outlining why integrating women into the revolution is different and preferred to integrating women into capitalism as in the revolution, women of all classes have a chance to meet, work together, and explore what they have in common as women, what needs they share as women that are not being met, and that the 'integration' of a few women into capitalist patriarchy only deepens the trenches between women
I found "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" particularly compelling and convincing in suggessting that heterosexuality, like motherhood, needs to be recognised and studied as a political institution through the analysis of several other texts including Kathleen Gough's "The Origin of the Family"
Highlights include:
Acknowledging the repeated struggles of women to resist oppression (their own and that of others) and to change their conditions rather than seeing women and men as equal partners in the making of "sexual arrangements
Acknowledging MacKinnon's argument that taking rape from the realm of 'the sexual' to the realm of 'the violent', allows one to be against it without raising any questions about the extent to which the institution of heterosexuality has defined force as a normal part of 'the preliminaries', never is it asked whether, under conditions of male supremacy, the notion of 'consent' has any meaning
Referencing Barry's argument that the adolescent male sex drive, which, as both young women and men are taught, once triggered cannot take responsibility for itself or take no for a answer becomes the norm and rationale for adult male sexual behaviour: a condition of arrested sexual development
A call for an economics that comprehends the institution of heterosexuality, with its doubled workload for women and its sexual divisions of labour, as the most idealised of economic relations
I also thoroughly enjoyed "Resisting Amnesia: History and Personal Life", which intends to address the whiteness of feminism and encourages a greater readership of Black feminism and "Going There and Being Here", which reflects on the author's time in Nicaragua and the fact that mainstream feminism is rooted in the imperial core of the USA in North America, which includes outlining why integrating women into the revolution is different and preferred to integrating women into capitalism as in the revolution, women of all classes have a chance to meet, work together, and explore what they have in common as women, what needs they share as women that are not being met, and that the 'integration' of a few women into capitalist patriarchy only deepens the trenches between women
July 26, 2025
there is so much to be angry about & this book only offers you more facets of society to be angry about!
i loved her take on transformative power, or the necessity of rewriting the premise of all social relations to redistribute resources and power dynamics etc etc etc we’ve heard it before & it remains essential to any and all liberation pursuits. her essay on comphet, the radical if not revolutionary need for feminine relationships (she locates all feminine relationships on the “lesbian continuum” but nicely explores later pushback so idk where that lands now), the writing of cultural values to directly align with the embodiment of masculine desire & the restriction of feminine self-determination, finding & excavating every refracting & reaffirming consequence of a society constructed on the valuation of the white straight man, there is so much to be angry about!!!
also found her very take on israel as the very act of idolatry that is vehemently condemned in the torah to be fascinating. how american jews apotheosize israel not as “an unfinished human effort, harrowed and flawed and full of gashes between dreams and realities, but as an untouchable construct: The Place Where Jews Can Be Safe.” will not elaborate but this passage scratched the brain itch of the massive cognitive dissonance thats always remained untouched in this dialogue for fear of insult or injury. just really appreciating how she’s touching on those things!
i loved her take on transformative power, or the necessity of rewriting the premise of all social relations to redistribute resources and power dynamics etc etc etc we’ve heard it before & it remains essential to any and all liberation pursuits. her essay on comphet, the radical if not revolutionary need for feminine relationships (she locates all feminine relationships on the “lesbian continuum” but nicely explores later pushback so idk where that lands now), the writing of cultural values to directly align with the embodiment of masculine desire & the restriction of feminine self-determination, finding & excavating every refracting & reaffirming consequence of a society constructed on the valuation of the white straight man, there is so much to be angry about!!!
also found her very take on israel as the very act of idolatry that is vehemently condemned in the torah to be fascinating. how american jews apotheosize israel not as “an unfinished human effort, harrowed and flawed and full of gashes between dreams and realities, but as an untouchable construct: The Place Where Jews Can Be Safe.” will not elaborate but this passage scratched the brain itch of the massive cognitive dissonance thats always remained untouched in this dialogue for fear of insult or injury. just really appreciating how she’s touching on those things!
October 24, 2025
I bought this book for Rich's famous "Compulsory Heterosexuality" essay, since I figured out this year that I am a lesbian—the line of logic should be obvious here. It did not disappoint in the slightest. In fact, it exceeded every expectation, likely because the way that it is talked about now is far more reductive than the original argument. Everyone who utters the terms "comphet" NEEDS to read this essay.
My enjoyment of the other essays in this collection was uneven. There were none that I disliked or thought was particularly flawed, but I found some of them less compelling. I likely would've found them more interesting if I was reading this at the time they were published. I think that that's why I loved "Compulsory Heterosexuality" so much—yes, it is of its time, but the acknowledgment of lesbians in society has improved so very little that she could've written it today and it would've still rung true. This is not to say that the other issues she writes about are resolved in any way. They have, however, been written nearly to death in ways that lesbian issues simply haven't.
I value this collection so deeply for its honest and its soulful discussion of lesbians. It has been invaluable for me for understanding myself and the world that created me.
My enjoyment of the other essays in this collection was uneven. There were none that I disliked or thought was particularly flawed, but I found some of them less compelling. I likely would've found them more interesting if I was reading this at the time they were published. I think that that's why I loved "Compulsory Heterosexuality" so much—yes, it is of its time, but the acknowledgment of lesbians in society has improved so very little that she could've written it today and it would've still rung true. This is not to say that the other issues she writes about are resolved in any way. They have, however, been written nearly to death in ways that lesbian issues simply haven't.
I value this collection so deeply for its honest and its soulful discussion of lesbians. It has been invaluable for me for understanding myself and the world that created me.
March 11, 2022
Desde una poesía clásica y formal, influenciada por autores como Blake, Keats y Tennyson,, entre otros, la autora norteamericana Adrien Rich evoluciona rápida y rabiosamente hacia un estilo personal, reivindicativo y provocador, sin encontrar ningún modelo a seguir que la satisfaga. Ni siquiera Las Brontë o Emily Dickinson se acercan a esa búsqueda del lenguaje literario propio de la mujer que ella persigue.
La mayor parte de su obra fue escrita entre los años 60 y 70 del siglo XX, volcándose de lleno en la crítica social y la política de su época. Adrienn Rich escribe especialmente para todas las mujeres oprimidas, explorando el concepto de la felicidad y reflexionando acerca de...
Leer la reseña completa en:
https://librosmagazine.wordpress.com/...
La mayor parte de su obra fue escrita entre los años 60 y 70 del siglo XX, volcándose de lleno en la crítica social y la política de su época. Adrienn Rich escribe especialmente para todas las mujeres oprimidas, explorando el concepto de la felicidad y reflexionando acerca de...
Leer la reseña completa en:
https://librosmagazine.wordpress.com/...
May 19, 2023
I came for “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” but stayed for the author’s perspective on Jewish identity and essays on other queer writers and activists. “Split at the Root”, “Resisting Amnesia”, and “Invisibility in Academe” were highlights for me.
Rich writes passionately and articulately about intersectionality vis-a-vis racism, sexism, heterosexism, anti-Semitism and class discrimination. She is certainly due praise for her introspection and observations on these issues.
Unfortunately, she maintains a very uncomfortable silence on the issue of trans identities. From the way she often equates womanhood with the cis-female, it’s hard not to get some icky TERF (trans-exclusive radical feminist) vibes.
Rich writes passionately and articulately about intersectionality vis-a-vis racism, sexism, heterosexism, anti-Semitism and class discrimination. She is certainly due praise for her introspection and observations on these issues.
Unfortunately, she maintains a very uncomfortable silence on the issue of trans identities. From the way she often equates womanhood with the cis-female, it’s hard not to get some icky TERF (trans-exclusive radical feminist) vibes.
August 25, 2019
For a while I took a break from more sociological books after finishing my uni degree, but something called me to pick this up from my shelf and I’m so glad that it did, because it reminded me why I’m so passionate about these topics to begin with. Not only are Rich’s ideas incredible (and often revolutionary), but her writing is some of the most eloquent and poetic I’ve ever read in academia (she is, after all, a poet at her core). She is one of my absolute favourite feminist writers and I’d recommend her essays to everyone.
October 21, 2021
“compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence,” while important to take with a grain of salt because it has problematic moments and is a little TERFy, really really helped me realize that i am a lesbian and uncracked everything i previously thought about my sexual orientation. shoutout to adrienne rich… mommy? sorry
June 7, 2024
Really truly enjoyed this so much! It will definitely be quoted in a paper or two. Love how Rich stays brave and true to herself, her politic, her craft, but most importantly, her lived experience. Bonus points for being so complimentary to feminist work that came before her, specifically the highlights of various Black feminists. Very inspiring stuff.
June 16, 2019
I have skirted around Adrienne's work for a while, knowing it would be good, wanting to give it my full attention, but when I finally sat down to this one, it bowled me over. One of the top 5 essay collections I've read. 10/10 recommend.
August 25, 2022
Intriguing, incisive thinking on intersectional feminism and identity. The author takes us through her development as a writer and poet through the frames of different identities, interrogating both her privilege, as well as her oppressions.
August 5, 2025
the ideas articulated in this book are amazing. sadly, so much of this is kind of taken as women’s studies fact nowadays that it wasn’t quite stunning enough to fully engage me. i would still love to discuss this book in an academic context and i know it was groundbreaking for the time period
May 29, 2018
No matter how narrowly I winnow my book collection down from move to move, this book comes with me everywhere. My battered copy has been with me since 2002 and I still love it and come back to it.
January 27, 2019
Goed dat er ook poëticale essays in staan. In de feministische zit er meer redundantie, omdat haar standpunt hevig verdedigd moest worden. De vertaling had vlotter gekund.
June 26, 2021
I would be interestet in knowing what Adrienne rich thinks of anything and everything.
October 30, 2021
Amazeballs. I want my own copy now
July 26, 2022
Bought this just to read the essay, “Compulsory Heterosexuality and the Lesbian Existence” & now I’m out here celebrating the lesbian continuum
October 10, 2022
Sad how much of this book remains true (representation of queer folks in pop culture, the erasure of political identities of 20th century poets like Elizabeth Bishop, etc).
December 14, 2022
this is my bible at the moment.
February 8, 2023
Mixed bag between some truly fantastic essays and others that I couldn't wait to finish.
April 3, 2023
Parts of it are good and interesting but also lots outdated and built on more by others. Not really a necessary read for me
July 15, 2023
essay on compulsory heterosexuality and pornography was insanely eye opening. made me look at myself
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews