It is odd when one is presented with a definitive explanation of an artist and her work before the artist has died and the work can be looked at in all its truth, but that is just what Chase, who teaches literature at Elon College, attempts here. Unfortunately she has chosen to take ``not an objective or critical'' approach, ``but a personal, friendly, appreciative and feminist'' one. The result is an overview of the Newbery Medal-winning L'Engle that lacks critical depth and analytic integrity. Even the few interviews that Chase conducted contribute no new insight to L'Engle's work or reveal in any new way the tensions that have informed it. With all that having been said, however, it is equally true that most of L'Engle's fans will, and would, embrace with open arms anything about her, even a book that, like this one, seems premature. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved