OdesBy: Sharon Olds Interspersed with acts of breathtaking linguistic daring. Charlotte Mendelson, Observer Book of the Year Opening with a powerful and tender Ode to the Hymen, Sharon Olds uses this age old poetic form to address many aspects of herself, in a collection that is centred around the female body and female pleasures, and touches along the way on parts of her own story which will be familiar from earlier works, each episode and memory now