Over the Lip of the World: Among the Storytellers of Madagascar (A Samuel and Althea Stroum Book) [Hardcover]

Colleen J. McElroy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1999 | Series: A Samuel and Althea Stroum Book

With wit, insight, and humor, Colleen McElroy tells of her journey to Madagascar for a Fulbright research project exploring Malagasy oral traditions and myths. Throughout, she interweaves traditional Malagasy stories. 'Colleen McElroy, one of the country's most versatile writers, scores large with this book about her adventures among the storytellers of Madagascar. Her characters and scenes are as fabulous as those found in a novel.' - Ishmael Reed, author of "Mumbo Jumbo". 'McElroy the poet is indeed obvious in every line of this work as she brilliantly develops characters, relates adventures, and captures the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and feel of every area of her travels.' - Daryl Cumber Dance, author of "Honey, Hush! An Anthology of African American Women's Humor".

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

McElroy combines her talents as English professor (Univ. of Washington) and creative writer in this collection of stories from Madagascar. Interwoven with the 28 folktales and actually comprising the majority of the text are impressions of the country and its people gleaned during the months the author lived and worked there. The book reads like a travel memoir at its best, poetic, lyrical and filled with the sights, sounds, and people of Madagascar. McElroy gives essential background on the stories, the storytellers, and the culture surrounding them, making the tales accessible to readers from other cultures. While few of the stories are suitable for telling to children in a traditional manner, this interesting anthropological study is recommended as such for academic and public libraries where interest or scholarship dictates.AKatherine K. Koenig, Ellis Sch., Pittsburgh
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

McElroy, an African American with Pacific Islander heritage, explores the oral traditions and myths of the island of Madagascar, 240 miles off the southeastern coast of Africa. The selected stories and song-poems represent two types: origin myths and tales of personal behavior and social ethics in "a country still famous for its verbal arts." McElroy interviews the Madagascan storytellers and, as an ethnographer, draws vivid pictures of their linguistics, the local culture, the Madagascan populace, and the regional geography of Madagascar. The tales of heroism, magic, love, and treachery include a story of girls turned into orange trees while fleeing a monster. In another story, a young man marries a daughter of heaven. His parents, fearing she will take him away, conspire to kill her but are thwarted by her magical powers. A fascinating look at a part of the world not often explored. Vanessa Bush

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press; 1st ed edition (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295978244
• ISBN-13: 978-0295978246
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,772,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A personal account, but interesting and well-written, December 30, 2000

By 

Maurizio Giuliano (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Over the Lip of the World: Among the Storytellers of Madagascar (A Samuel and Althea Stroum Book) (Hardcover)

Yes, I fully agree with the previous reviewer from Louisiana. This is not a book for those who want to get to know Madagascar and Malagasy culture or history. At the most, in that direction, it provides some 'atmosphere' of Africa for those who have never been there. The book is indeed a personal account of the reader's feelings, as she rediscovered herself during her trip to that wonderful Indian Ocean island. Yet, this is a good subject, and the book is well-written, filled with thrill. I liked it. As long as it is presented as what it is and not something else, I recommend it to those interested in the former.

1.0 out of 5 stars Be aware of this book's true content, May 12, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Over the Lip of the World: Among the Storytellers of Madagascar (A Samuel and Althea Stroum Book) (Hardcover)

Over The Lip of the World is a FICTIONAL account based on the author's subjective experiences in Madagascar. It is not a recount of Malagasy folklore but rather a history of McElroy's search for her own identity as she looked for it on an island on the other side of the world. Persons interested in Malagasy studies should NOT buy this book; people interested in a black woman's personal history might find it more palatable than I did.