Francesca Lia Block

NONFICTION Guarding the Moon is Ms. Block's poetic nonfiction book, detailing her experiences in the first year of being a mother. Her daughter, Jasmine, is the subject of this book (though her name is mentioned only once in the actual text; all through the narrative she is referred to by fifty-odd nicknames). Here she gives us a story of pain, fear, wonder, sadness, and love, centered around her baby girl and her family and personal life, including touching recollections of her own adolescence, her struggles with eating disorders, her changing self-image, her miscarriages, her experiences with yoga and nursing, and her own relationship with her mother. Reading this book gives one a powerful understanding of what being a mother is like for one unique woman, and most readers will see pieces of themselves in her experience. Zine Scene is an instructional book by Francesca Lia Block and her co-author Hillary Carlip. This book not only teaches how to make a zine but also gives interesting information about the scene itself. I have not read it and am not really interested in getting it because I have no desire to produce and distribute a zine (my website is my outlet for creativity in the same fashion, more or less). But supposedly this is a great one on the subject and would be very good reading for anyone who wants to make a zine and also respects Ms. Block--you know she won't fail you. Wood Nymph Seeks Centaur is a dating guide with personality types based on mythical creatures. It gives you twelve male and twelve female personality types, explains how to figure out which one you are (or what combination), and gives pointers on what types work well with each other and how. It uses a lot of heterosexual-orientated language (despite the same-sex sections in the back that seem a bit tacked on as an afterthought), and lots of people I've talked to didn't relate to any of the types, but it's still an interesting exercise to see the patterns and observe the various traits, as well as hear the stories from the author's past dealing with various types. Open Letter to Quiet Light is a book of poetry about a relationship. Ms. Block discusses her longing, insecurity, satisfaction, sadness, and hope throughout the romance, with references to her miscarriages, her children, the loss of her father, her desire to be reassured and treasured, and her overwhelming passion. Fairy Tales in Electri-City is a book of poems. Most of them discuss love, sex, partners in romance and life, relationships, and self-realization, with many of the male "types" from the Wood Nymph Seeks Centaur book referenced. How to (Un)cage a Girl is a collection of magical urban poems. Most of them are about the female experience and focus on subjects like confidence, beauty, desire, disappointment, jealousy, and learning to be okay with yourself. Ms. Block also has two older books of poetry that are unavailable to the dirty public such as myself: Moon Harvest and Season of Green. They were published by small presses and that's why they're so unavailable. Ms. Block was a teenager when they were published. Ms. Block wrote an article about fashion here. There is a book called Presenting Francesca Lia Block, a biography by Michael Cart. I have not read it because it is unavailable for the most part. Apparently she's also had something to do with a nonfiction book called Finding Your Way: A Book About Sexual Ethics. Back to Francesca Lia Block Page