Edge Effect

"McPherson is a distinctive stylist and a compassionate voice whose work continues to enrich and reward readers."—Publishers Weekly

"A fascinating, original, rich and appealing work that furthers McPherson's perspicacious examination of the natural world while entering new ground . . . McPherson's language ranges from the scientific to the meditative, her forms from the notational to the elegant and eloquent. This is a masterful and expansive book."—Alison Deming

"Today, an artist can be untrained, lacking in dexterity, emotionally disabled, even legally blind, yet still be recognized and rewarded for artistic excellence. There may be no better way to understand this progression than to search for art in thrift shops, flea markets, and yard sales. There, amid the dental irrigators, stuffed animals, and coffee mugs, you're on your own-as are the unknown artists whose works are haphazardly offered. But if you search long enough, and are fortunate, you'll not only find something worth keeping, you'll also develop an eye that will enable you to recognize the excellence in other unlikely places-in backyards, down dirt roads, in senior citizen centers, in homeless shelters-in short, wherever someone, however 'unqualified,' decides to be graphically expressive."—Gene Epstein, "What Kind of Art is This?"

"The zone where two communities overlap, called ecotone, shares characteristics of both communities ad therefore is diverse. That is, the edge of a community is more diversified that its center, a phenomenon also known as 'edge effect.' The region where the land and sea overlap is known as the interidal or littoral zone. This region, influenced by the daily ebb and flow of ides, is one of the best examples of edge effect in the world."—Alan A. Schoenherr, A Natural History of California

"McPherson is a distinctive stylist and a compassionate voice whose work continues to enrich and reward readers."—Publishers Weekly

"[Poems in the 'Portrayals' section of Edge Effect] are redolent with fresh-picked words and metaphors, and readers partaking of them may achieve an altered, even exalted state, in which things are seen from unexpected perspectives."—Booklist

"A fascinating, original, rich and appealing work that furthers McPherson's perspicacious examination of the natural world while entering new ground . . . McPherson's language ranges from the scientific to the meditative, her forms from the notational to the elegant and eloquent. This is a masterful and expansive book." —Alison Deming

"The zone where two communities overlap, called ecotone, shares characteristics of both communities ad therefore is diverse. That is, the edge of a community is more diversified that its center, a phenomenon also known as 'edge effect.' The region where the land and sea overlap is known as the interidal or littoral zone. This region, influenced by the daily ebb and flow of ides, is one of the best examples of edge effect in the world."—Alan A. Schoenherr, A Natural History of California

"Today, an artist can be untrained, lacking in dexterity, emotionally disabled, even legally blind, yet still be recognized and rewarded for artistic excellence. There may be no better way to understand this progression than to search for art in thrift shops, flea markets, and yard sales. There, amid the dental irrigators, stuffed animals, and coffee mugs, you're on your own-as are the unknown artists whose works are haphazardly offered. But if you search long enough, and are fortunate, you'll not only find something worth keeping, you'll also develop an eye that will enable you to recognize the excellence in other unlikely places-in backyards, down dirt roads, in senior citizen centers, in homeless shelters-in short, wherever someone, however 'unqualified,' decides to be graphically expressive."—Gene Epstein, "What Kind of Art is This?"