Fishing for Myth: Poems by Heid E. Erdrich (MVP) [Paperback]

Heid E. Erdrich (Author)

Book Description

Series: MVP | Publication Date: April 1, 1997

Poetry that resounds with Native American culture and sensibility

Editorial Reviews

Review

. . . Erdrich's poems crown the ordinary with the archetypal, employing all definitions of myth-from the Native American or Greek to the contemporary -- City Pages, Jan. 7, 1998

Animoosh
Born In November
Boyfriend
Breaking And Entering
Candy Apple Red
Creation
The Cure
Dragging The River
The Drunk's Spirit
Earthswimmer
The Execution Of Mr. Carp
Fat In America
Fear And Comfort
Flickers
Fourth Of July Electrical Storm
Future Debris
Hopi Prophet Chooses A Pop
Human Map
Le Main De Dieu
One Girl
Origin Of Poem
Oxbow
Phosphorescence
The Pond
The Quiet Earth
The Red River Of The North
Rich Hour
Sense
Sex In The Desert
Short Hand
A Sister For My Father
Sweeping Heaven
Sweet Short
Sweet Short
That Green Night
Translation
Tree That's Gone
True Myth
Turtle Rattle
Tv News: Detox Closed
Vegetarian
The Visible Woman
Wearing Indian Jewelry
Wheat Ears
The Window's Grove
The Wishing Fish
Worlds From Water
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

In her remarkable first book, Minnesota poet Erdrich reveals the mythic encounters beneath our daily lives. Evoking with rich images the physical reality of places, she demonstrates the bonds between land, history, and people, and recreates an intense, almost frightening sense of the emotional and spiritual heartbeat of a place -- Fodder, Jan.-Feb. 1998

This first book of poems by Heid E. Erdrich is filled with unusual verve and vision. Each of the approximately 45 poems in this slender volume stands strongly on its own, ranging from the foreboding "Fourth of July Electrical Storm" to the highly humorous "Hopi Prophet Chooses a Pop."

. . . The book is aptly titled, for each of Erdrich's poems represents a riveting exploration of the depths of self-created myth. Readers who go "fishing for myth" with Erdrich will not be disappointed. Each casting yields an exhilarating experience-and the marvelous tug of something deep and very much alive indeed -- The Forum, Sept. 14, 1997

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Pond

Baltimore's flowers go off like fireworks.
Azaleas buss in colors too hot for our eyes.
You take me to a pond with a cooling fountain,
a bronze child leaping across lilypads. I'm amazed
when you stamp your feet and the Koi rise to be fed.
We have come to release an overgrown fantail goldfish.
She slips from the plastic bag, glimmers above dull coins,
disappears into waters as filled with wishes as marriage.
I press a penny to my lips, toss it in the depths.

Catch and release, catch and release-we have loved
this way for years. That day at the pond repeats,
it seems. The splashing child never
ages, our reflections always waver. And you
keep stamping at the edge of the pond until hundreds of fish churn at its surface,
bubbling up with wishes at their lips,
all the best, all for you.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: New Rivers Press; 1st edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898231744
• ISBN-13: 978-0898231748
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,228,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Winner of the 2009 Minnesota Book Award for her poetry collection National Monuments, Heid E. Erdrich has authored three books of poems and co-edited Sister Nations: Native American Women on Community. Her first play, Curiosities, was produced by Pangea World Theater in 2010. She is Ojibwe, enrolled at Turtle Mountain. Heid grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota and attended Dartmouth College and Johns Hopkins University. Heid has taught writing for twenty years at colleges, universities and as a visiting author. In 2012 her new and selected works will be published. Heid's official website is heid.erdrich.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reel this one in!, January 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fishing for Myth: Poems by Heid E. Erdrich (MVP) (Paperback)

Poems that revisit and reshape the myths that guide our lives and our culture. This collection records, with memorable imagery and striking lines, the lives of some of the Native American people the author grew up with. It also comments on the political events of our time. And, interspersed throughout are some of the most sensitive and down-to-earth and intellectual love poems you'll ever find. Don't let this book be "the one that got away."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to live by, August 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Fishing for Myth: Poems by Heid E. Erdrich (MVP) (Paperback)

Alternately wry, sly, warm, and lusty, these poems explore the universal contained in the particular experience. From the rural complexity of reservation life in North Dakota to the interwoven human relations of inner city Baltimore, this book is a clear-eyed, insightful, encompassing and forgiving-and never sentimental-look at the world and all its creatures.