The Oxford Book of Women's Writing in the United States is a rich and engaging collection of women's writing, spanning the entire chronology of American literary history from Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley to Anne Sexton, Alice Walker, and Ana Castillo. It encompasses a full range of genres - both public and private forms - including short stories, novellas, poetry, essays, letters, diaries, performance pieces, and ceremonial forms. The selections reflect the variety of women's lives in America, encompassing rural and urban perspectives, a range of cultural and social settings, young and old, regional voices, and the like. Organized into six sections - Short Story (including the novella); Poetry; Public Lives; Acting Out; Private Lives; and Bodily Pleasures - this book is the ideal `companion' work to The Oxford Companion to Women's Writing in the United States (OUP, 1995).