ALICE WALKER

A deliberate, detailed study of a brilliant, unpredictable, influential writer, in an entry in the People to Know series. Without trying to psychoanalyze her subject, Kramer describes Walker's childhood, family, education, and travels as context for a close look at the author's work: summaries of her novels, selected short stories and poems, brief discussions of common themes, and critical responses pro and con. The making of the movie The Color Purple gets half a chapter as well. There are a few gaps herethe film version of Walker's Finding the Green Stone (1991), which predates the picture book by ten years, is not mentioned, nor is Everyday Use (1994)but readers will come away with a good sense of how Walker thinks and writes, plus a coherent picture of her career. More an alternative to, than a replacement for, Tony Gentry's Alice Walker (1993). (b&w photos, not seen, notes, chronology, bibliography, index) (Biography. 12+)