This is by no means a perfect book; more psychoanalytic and biographical than historical criticism (so if these aren't your game, you may want to avoid this), so some of the arguments tend to falter on a foundational level at times. George is an engaging writer, and she certainly knows her Sexton, so there are fascinating points to mine here. I particularly like her repositioning of Sexton as Oedipus the truth-seeker rather than Oedipus the ill-fated; also, her discussion of Narcissus and confessional poetry. These are both contentions I think a critic like Jo Gill handles a bit better in some recent articles on Sexton, which are better historicized. George does have a really fabulous chapter on Sexton and feces; which, as odd as it might sound, works well--particularly in George's argument about creative fecundity and Sexton's blurring of the lines between the sacred and profane (she also brings in Douglas's "Purity and Danger" at this point). Her analysis of "The Death Baby" in the final chapter is stunning. Also fairly readable for psychoanalytic criticism...George is pretty much a bigwig in Sexton crit, so if you're into Sexton, you should at least give this book a once-over.