Kumin reflects on the process of writing poetry and on life in the country. In this book, we catch her lively conversation in a series of interviews, her thoughtful assessment of literature in articles and reviews, and her ranging good sense in lectures delivered at Bread Loaf. Perhaps most moving of all are the accents of grief and friendship we hear when Maxine Kumin writes about Anne Sexton. Finally, in a group of essays drawn from her experiences in the country, we have the poet herself in her own words—the life lived.