"Sleeping with Cats" was Marge Piercy's first memoir. This is a follow up--a short book with poems written to fit the chapters and it's a series of memories plus discussion, some question and answer, about her life as a writer and feminist. It's a slim volume but it packs a punch, and really gives insight into this interesting American poet. This book is intense; normally I can finish a book of this length in an hour or two, but I couldn't read it all at one go. It's as dense as a flourless chocolate cake, got to savor it in small bites.Marge Piercy has written 17 (maybe 18) novels, and volumes of poetry. Her novels have sold moderately well and some are in print decades later as classics of their genre, such as "Woman on the Edge of Time", "He, She and It" , "Gone to Soldiers" and "City of Darkness, City of Light." But she is more honored for her poetry and makes a living by readings around the US and by giving a juried workshop that is much in demand. As a writer, she says she prefers poetry--but as a rare creator, she does both novels and poetry very well. Now, she says (at age 85) she likes shorter works, even short stories.I got to know her better from this memoir; the interview is her voice, answering questions. There is clarification--how did she develop her poetry style, what were her influences? How does she research a novel like "City of Darkness" (set in the French Revolution) answer: months and hundred upon hundred of pages of research, more than seven times the number of pages than to write the actual novel.The things that bother her about our society and politics--among which, the constant diminishment of women . the gentrification, the displacement of the middle class, especially the lower middle class and the poor from city after city and where do they go? The homeless, some living in shadows sitting in shopping malls and in parks; she's gotten adept at spotting those who fit in by staying unobtrusive. One of her novels deals with that "The Longings of Women" about a previously well-off woman divorced who sinks into poverty and homelessness while desperately trying to keep her appearance as a regular, normal, not-homeless person.This is a book well worth reading if you are interested in American authors of note who do not get a lot of publicity these days. She refers to herself as a "midlevel author" and you learn that today, midlevel authors have no publishers. She goes over the economics of a 100K advance on a novel and you learn that 3 years of writing, you've been paid less than minimum wage (I've had this confirmed by other authors.) She has an 18th novel finished, not mentioned in this book--no publisher. That's why you aren't reading it.Get to know her. She's worth reading.