Linda Gregg's first two books - Too Bright to See & Alma - are, at long last, available again-this time in a single volume. In this book, we witness the awakening of one of the finest American poets of her generation.

Dark-eyed and distant Alma Rubens was one of the first female stars of the early feature film industry in the 1910s. She was a major star by 1920, but before the decade was over her screen career was marked and marred by cocaine abuse. She died in 1931 at age 33--a Hollywood beauty, a casualty of Hollywood "snow," yet much more. As an actress she was versatile, demonstrating a talent that was ahead of its time with her gentle and subtle expressions. This book contains Rubens's autobiography, a text titled This Bright World Again that was serialized in newspapers in 1931. Ghost-written or not or somewhere in between, this long forgotten document deals with Rubens's addiction and despair. In addition, a new biography of Rubens takes the reader from her birth in San Francisco through an impoverished upbringing, three short-lived marriages, and her career in pictures for Triangle Film, Cosmopolitan, Fox and other production companies. The story of her film career mingles with a tale of desperate drug addiction that led to hospital stays, violence and deception. A filmography lists her credits from 1913 to 1929.

A new and resplendent collection by Linda Gregg, whose poems "have the elegance of Greek statuary and the good-humored poise of haiku" (Poetry) I finally fell in love with all of it: dirt, silence, rock and far views. It's strange that my heart is as full now as my desire was then. —from "Arriving Again and Again Without Noticing" In one poem in this emotional and spiritual collection, Linda Gregg asks, "It is clear why love / took me to the shore of death, / but why did it bring me back?" In the Middle Distance, Gregg's sixth book, explores up to and beyond the crossroads of devastation and desire. There, she finds not only survival but also salvation—hard-won, resilient, and meaningful. This collection brings Gregg's passion and intensity together with a new wisdom and vitality that is unmistakably original.

Chosen by the Lion is Linda Gregg's fourth collection and her most eloquent, bespeaking a deeply personal reconciliation with the loss of love. --Graywolf Press Gregg's typical language is silvery and agile, her ton level and concentrated. --The New Yorker.

"Loss is a constant companion in Things and Flesh as the poet explores what lesson can be found in "the way this new silence lasts." What all the poems accomplish is to carry the grief we must all by nature endure. They carry our grief across boundaries, over time, and perhaps even beyond, into what used to be called "salvation" - but which Gregg now indicates is instead the place where poetry is made. The consolations are hard won, but no less triumphant."--BOOK JACKET.