It is tempting, but unwise, to underestimate the work of Dolores Cullen. Her direct style, her unaffected enthusiasm for the obscure reaches of Middle English, her openly celebratory approach to Chaucer as the poet who changed her life--this kind of thing is anathema to modern English literature scholars. . . . Luckily for us, she tells it straight, in language aimed at the common reader. . . . Not surprisingly, this account of how [the Tales] came to be written takes the reader on an utterly exhilarating literary adventure.”