Off the Map [Hardcover]

Chellis Glendinning (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 1999

Imperialism. It has been the dominant and dominating political force on planet Earth for centuries—from the age of the great European empires to our own era of giant corporate takeovers. Its influence is felt in every area of our lives, from the global to the deeply personal. In this book, Chellis Glendinning charts the course of empire across countries and continents and on into individual minds, hearts, and bodies—and it all happens within the story of her horseback ride through the wilds of New Mexico with her friend the Indo-Hispano vaquero, Snowflake Martinez. As their dreamlike journey unfolds, Chellis and Snowflake strive to understand the results of their ancestors' fatal encounter—hers, the "people of empire"; his, "the colonized"—weaving together current events with their childhood memories and the forces of history to reveal extent of imperialism's legacy— and to find a way "off the map," to a more hopeful future for us all.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A psychologist, poet, and social activist, Glendinning uses many images to express her thoughts about the modern world. Here her views on imperialism and ecology are interspersed with descriptions of her horseback exploration of the northern New Mexico desert accompanied by an Indo-Hispanic cowboy named Snowflake Martinez. Glendinning leaps from discussions of world history to her own experiences of child abuse to the struggles of the Hispanic farmers of northern New Mexico, linking all these as facets of imperialism. She makes some interesting connections between these ideas, but her stream-of-consciousness style may be hard for some readers to follow. No translation is provided for the Spanish-language dialog, which will prevent some readers from fully understanding Glendinning's conversations with Snowflake and others. For larger collections.AGwen Gregory, New Mexico State Univ. Lib., Las Cruces
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"In this wonderful book, Chellis Glendinning reveals imperialism's legacy for us all, both the children of the oppressed and the children of the oppressors. Off the Map is a work of great import for our time—and it's a marvelous read too."—Susan Griffin, author of Woman and Nature and A Chorus of Stones

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1ST edition (September 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570623600
• ISBN-13: 978-1570623608
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,011,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A THOUGHTFUL & COMPELLING TRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABLE CULTURE, October 9, 2000

By 

John (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Off the Map (Hardcover)

What impact has three hundred years of Western imperialism had on the way we treat each other -- and the Earth -- today?

How is today's global economy simply our latest expression of colonization?

How can our personal woundings become doorways to self-healing and form the basis of a commitment to sustainable planetary culture?

In her new book, Off the Map (An Expedition Deep Into Imperialism, the Global Economy, and Other Earthly Whereabouts, Pulitzer-nominated author and psychologist Dr. Chellis Glendinning explores these themes with a directness, clarity and emotional intensity that awakens the reader to profound insight about the nature of today's world.

In a lyrical braiding of three stories, she weaves the threads of her personal story of sexual abuse in a European-American (and Anglophile) family in the 1950s, the history of the last three hundred years of Western imperialism and a present-day horseback ride through the recently colonized Chicano world of northern New Mexico, where she currently resides.

Glendinning sees Off the Map as a continuation of her past work. "My focus is always the relationship between the personal and the political," she notes. "This book is an effort to make clear that everyone on the Earth is still experiencing the legacies of the classical age of empire, that corporate globalization is just the latest expression of Western imperialism and that, ultimately, it cannot work."

Throughout the book, we follow Glendinning's story of sexual abuse at the hands of her father, through her healing to the reclamation of her essential self and her reconnection to the power of land and nature. We also follow the story of the land-based Chicano peoples of northern New Mexico, a story that goes to the heart of the unspoken wound of imperial systems: the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized.

Glendinning, a highly respected eco-psychologist, received a Pulitzer nomination for her book When Technology Wounds (William Morrow). Other earlier works include My Name is Chellis and I'm in Recovery From Western Civilization (Shambhala) and Waking Up in the Nuclear Age (William Morrow). Off the Map is a compelling look at the unexamined implications of our rapidly expanding global economy and, as such, should cause a great stir among economists, sociologists and all those concerned about the future of humanity -- and all of life -- on Earth.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique, challenging, informative read., February 3, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Off the Map (Hardcover)

Chellis Glendinning argues that imperialism has been the dominant and dominating political force in human civilization from the age of the great European empires down to our own era of national and international corporate takeovers. The influence and effect of imperialism is felt in every area of our lives, from the global to the deeply personal. In Off The Map, Glendinning charts the course of empire across countries and continents, and on into individual minds, hearts, and bodies -- all within the context of her horseback ride through the wilds of New Mexico with her friend Snowflake Martinez, an Indo-Hispanic vaquero. As their dreamlike journey unfolds, Chellis and Snowflake strive to understand the results of their ancestors' fatal encounter: hers, the "people of empire"; his, "the colonized" -- weaving together current events with their childhood memories and the forces of history to reveal the extent of imperialism's legacy -- and to find a way "off the map", to a more hopeful future for human kind. Off The Map will prove to be of immense interest to students of history, economics, political science, psychology, social activism, and multicultural relations.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will raise the hair on the back of your neck, May 11, 2000

By 

S. Rowan Wolf (Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Off the Map (Hardcover)

This book should be required reading. In both style and content, Glendinning has woven the mentality of colonialism and conquest into her personal history in such a way that the reader is captured and informed. This book will raise the hair on the back of your neck with it's power.

I teach college sociology and have read excerpts of this book to my students. Their response has been amazing, with many wiping tears from their eyes. I didn't want to put this book down, and friends have had the same experience. If you have read Glendinnings other works, you will be amazed at this book. She has truly stepped beyond herself.