The Decent Of Alette is a rich odyssey of transformation in the tradition of The Inferno. Alice Notley presents a feminist epic: a bold journey into the deeper realms. Alette, the narrator, finds herself underground, deep beneath the city, where spirits and people ride endlessly on subways, not allowed to live in the world above. Traveling deeper and deeper, she is on a journey of continual transformation, encountering a series of figures and undergoing fragmentations and metamorphoses as she seeks to confront the Tyrant and heal the world. Using a new measure, with rhythmic units indicated by quotations marks, Notley has created a "spoken" text, a rich and mesmerizing work of imagination, mystery, and power.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 04/01/1996
ISBN: 9780140587647
Pages: 160
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.50d
Award: Boston Book Review - Nominee

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 03/18/1996 pg. 65
Booklist 03/01/1996 pg. 1118