SOURCE: St. Andrews, Bonnie. “Bridging Our Separation.” Belles Lettres 8, no. 2 (winter 1992): 30.

In the following review, St. Andrews applauds the selection of short stories, essays, and poems that comprise A Rosellen Brown Reader.

Only a few volumes dedicated to the works of individual artists currently exist in the prestigious Breadloaf Contemporary Series. The newest [A Rosellen Brown Reader]—Rosellen Brown's selection of 12 short stories, several essays including “The Jewish Writer as Endangered Species” and “On Not Writing a Novel,” a lively interview with Tom LeClair, and a judicious selection of her poetry—sets another jewel in the diadem. The collection confirms Brown's literary commitment “to speak more perfectly than I really can, to a listener more perfect than any I know.”

These celebrated stories and poems, placed alongside some provocative essays, underscore her long-term complicity with that dream reader and perfect listener. The selected writing also suggests not only...