[2] Duhamel's earliest books take a feminist slant, beginning with Smile (1993) and Girl Soldier (1996); The Woman with Two Vaginas (1995) explores Eskimo folklore from the same perspective.
Two collections that followed, The Star Spangled Banner (1998) and Queen for a Day (2001), move more broadly into American culture to display the same satire through the lens of absurdity.
Later work is formally various with pantoums, sestinas/double-sestinas, long surreal explorations of American life, and list poems (Mille et un sentiments [2005]).
Of this collaboration, Duhamel says, "Something magical happens when we write - we find this third voice, someone who is neither Maureen nor I, and our ego sort of fades into the background.
"[3] Duhamel names as some of her influences Lucille Ball, Roseanne Barr, Andrea Dworkin, Alyson Palmer, Amy Ziff and Elizabeth Ziff (who make up the singing group Betty), and the 70s television heroine Mary Hartman.