Amazon.com Review
Devotees of the visionary feminist philosopher Mary Daly will be delighted by this call to action against the "necrotechnologists" of genetic research and the advances of right-wing religious fundamentalism. In Pure Lust (1984), Daly posited the importance of four elements: words, substances, the cosmos, and spirits. "Quintessence," as she describes it, is the connecting fifth element, "the Source of our power to Realize a true Future." Tapping into Quintessence, she argues, can enable us to name and confront "the escalating atrocities ... against women and nature and [summon] Courage and Hope to transcend [them]." To soften her grim depiction of the present moment, Daly has cleverly presented this new book as its own 50th-anniversary edition (2048 in the "biophilic era"), appearing at a time when women have banded together and learned how to summon and direct their psychic energies. They have, in fact, saved the world. Each chapter concludes with comments by Annie, an ardent young woman of that period, who has invoked Mary Daly in order to ask her about the bad old days of the late 20th century, while Daly herself gasps with amazement at the clean water, fresh air, and sweet-smelling blossoms of the idyllic future. --Regina Marler
From Publishers Weekly
Extending her work in Gyn/Ecology and Pure Lust, Daly here proposes new tools for defusing the weapons of patriarchy. Flashing forward into 2048 via the channelings of a young feminist named Annie, Daly finds that a group of women is planning on publishing a "50th anniversary edition" of Quintessence, which would also mark the 200th anniversary of the first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y. This fictional device can be too precious, especially when the channeled author begins dancing with Annie's pets and sighing over the "patriarchal paralysis" of the late 20th century. However, it does present Daly's ideas in an accessible, amusing form. The parts of the book centering around contemporary issues are rife with straight political commentary mixed with fanciful eco-feminism and Daly's inimitable wordplay. With clarity and precision, she discusses the rhetoric of the Promise Keepers, the use of rape by the military in Bosnia and Rwanda, the threat of biological control that cloning could bring and the oppression of women by academia. An associate professor of theology at Boston College, Daly illuminates connections among mythology, religion and sociopolitical events with a piercing gaze and a pointing finger (and New Age-y illustrations by Sudie Rakusin). But she is less effective when her careful speculations careen into stream-of-consciousness manifesto, replete with changing vocabulary and flights from the text's point. For Daly fans, this is a must; others will find that her fast and furious ideas?however "biophilic"?induce a serious theory hangover, and will be content to wait for the 50th-anniversary edition. Illustrations. Editor, Helene Atwan; agent, Jill Kneerim.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
