On House and Home:

"In writing as in life, this poet seems to have no use for undue exuberance but is plainly too strong to let herself get bogged down in the maudlin... The result is honest and unaffected writing refreshingly free of the self-conscious angst that mars the writing of some of her colleagues." —Library Journal

"The writing's great virtue is its physicality of place and time--a fusion of word and map of nature drawn by a uniquely original poet. House and Home represents a maturity of mind and voice rare among contemporary poets." —Rochelle Owens

"Here are the private musings of a seasoned poet, most often over domestic realities uttered matter-of-factly, However, these lyrics are elevated into a poetry of metaphoric potential, with a most moving selection of love poems that include the trials of love and the fears of its lack. There is a calm center to these carefully observed poems." —Barry Wallenstein

On Someday Songs:

"Painful and witty at the same time, the poems are simple in structure and give the reader a warm feeling for family, changing tradition, friendship, and an understanding of the pain of alienation and loss. Highly recommended."—Library Journal

"Personal and religious encounters provide the raw material for Ratner's 13th collection of poetry. And the poems, which evoke Jewish ritual and communal life, are remarkable for their simplicity, clarity and depth of feeling. They are not so much ``about'' religious experience as they are moments of it…. The poems are declared imitations, representations, and as such gain their power from their exactness of observation and from the poet's use of language as a mimetic tool"—Publishers Weekly

Rochelle Ratner's the author of thirteen previous poetry collections, including Practicing to Be A Woman: New and Selected Poems (Scarecrow Press, 1982) and Someday Songs (BkMk Press, 1992). A novelist as well as a poet, Coffee House Press has published two novels: Bobby's Girl (1986) and The Lion's Share (1991). An anthology she edited, Bearing Life: Women's Writings on Childlessness, was published in January 2000 by The Feminist Press. More information is available at www.rochelleratner.com.