Dead Girls by Francesca Lia Block

The newest collection of haunting, magical poems by Francesca Lia Block, author of Fairy Tales in Electri-City, draws on myth and fable to explore the roles women play in many archetypal stories–and gives voice to these female characters, to let them tell their tales in their own words.   Wasn’t it pervert Edgar Allen Poe who said, “The death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world?” Francesca Lia Block’s book Dead Girls begs to differ.  Here we see the exploitation of girls—spun into the very DNA of our Western culture of myth and fairy tales—for what it is. Block gives voice to these women and girls, including the “wicked” queens and stepmothers, revealing a complexity and despair as only a truly great poet can.  I’ll tell you what is the most poetical topic in the world—beautiful girls who are very much alive in these exquisite poems. –Denise Duhamel In the gorgeous realms of these poems we might hear beguiling instructions: “Heed my advice /