Customer Reviews

Roots of Desire: The Myth, Meaning and Sexual Power of Red Hair

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Reading this book made me see red! Not out of anger but desire, specifically the desire to take the book to my hairdresser, point to the gorgeous cover of red curls and say, "The redder the better for me, thanks!" Love the section headings - sinners, science and sex. Love the clever subheadings - my favorite is the one for Chapter Four under Science: "A Monk, Two Very Different Victorians, and the Knockout Mouse or How We Were Delivered the Genetics of Hair Color." And in that subheading lies the beating red heart of what I really love about the book - the author's love of language. The fun she has with it, how she magnifies its allure, celebrates its danger, revels in its power as a tool of discovery. Yes, this book is a mad dash through a forest of redheaded demons, devils, dangers and desires. A wild romp that took the author - with the reader now along - from continent to continent and through a head-spinning number of fields. A crazy, creative and comprehensive look at all the redheaded threads woven through history. But even more, it's a joyride with one hot mama who loves to write.

Marion Roach, NPR correspondent, is a redhead, and aims to get to the bottom of redhead mythology in our culture. She discusses the oldest famous redheads, like Lilith (Adam's pre-Eve wife in the bible), Set, and Mary Magdalene. She also gets into the genetics of red hair, and explains why it's rare. She also discusses the historical attributes associated with red hair through time. It was formerly thought that Jews were redheads, and later, that redheads were not to be trusted. More currently, red hair is associated with sexual prowess and a hot temper. This book is a fun and intellectually satisfying read, especially for redheads.

I'm a brunette, but I bought this book for the redheads on my gift list and ended up reading it, myself. It's a lovely mix of poetic personal tales and the science of genetics written in a way that's easy to understand.
By the way, my three redhead friends just loved it and ended up buying it for their redheaded relatives.
Sure it's got sex in it - read the title. If that is going to offend you, don't read it.

As a redhead, I was excited to read this book about the myth and lore of redheads...not to read about the author's own "flowing like water red hair and her flickering hazel eyes." The author's overuse of unnecessary metaphors and meaningless personal anecdotes made this book incomprehensible to even the most astute reader. By page 3 of this book, an intended recreational read had quickly turned into an agonizingly painful endeavor.

Don't bother reading this book, if you are interested in the myth and lore of redheads, Google "red head" and watch "I Love Lucy" reruns.

Redheads have fascinated me nearly my entire life. I have no idea why. I'm not a redhead nor are there any redheads in my family. Maybe it's ingrained into my Irish genes. Who knows? In any case, I'm always searching for a deeper understanding of this subconscious obsession. So, I read this new book by Ms. Roach.

In The Roots of Desire we do get a bit of insight into the meaning of red hair. Part history, part science report, part memoir, in this book Ms. Roach combs out some intriguing information: stories from religion & myth, genetic codes & psychological research, personal anecdotes. Overall, however, I was left a bit disappointed.

Perhaps I was simply hoping for something more or different, but I felt I was left unchanged by this book. I found it to be meandering when I wanted it to come to a point. I found it to be scattershot when I wanted more focus. In the end, I felt I knew more facts about redheads but nothing more about myself and my connection to them. Still, for someone who has an interest in redheads, this is a hard book to pass up. It has its pleasures which should be experienced.

This is the first 'redhead' book I've purchased. I've plans to buy a few others. I'm about 30 or so pages in on this one and so far, 'meh'. It's giving lots of historical citations and telling a story of sorts (the author's, mostly). I'm just not as engaged or learning as much as I'd hoped to.

Marion Roach, The Roots of Desire: The Myth, Meaning, and Sexual Power of Red Hair (Bloomsbury, 2005)

There's something about redheads, isn't there? Marion Roach aims to find out what, exactly, it is. And while, at the end of this little tome, we know that there are some genetic difference, and a good deal of myth and folklore, the mystery of the redhead is still preserved. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is entirely up to you.

Roach divides the book into three parts, with the first covering the myths and legends, the second the science, and the third... well, it's supposed to be the allure. But it actually ends up being a meshing of the driving forces of the two sections that preceded it; those looking for prurient interest are likely to be quite disappointed. That said, the book is never less than readable, and Roach's personal quest, which is what the thesis of this book boils down to, is engaging enough that it's unlikely the reader will find himself with an overwhelming necessity to, say, throw the book under the couch to feed the dustbunnies.

I get the feeling there could have been more to this book-- a lot more, perhaps-- but an equal part of me feels that it simply wouldn't to do get rid of the mystery altogether, would it? ***

This is an absolute waste of paper and money. There are very few interesting facts, historical or other wise, about redheads in this book. It is mostly overly wordy personal anecdotes of the author.Let me stress the overly wordy part.
I'm still looking for that book that I had hoped this one was...you know the one about the myths, beliefs, facts, etc of redheads...of which I am proudly one...

I learned a bit about redheads--not as much as I would have liked to, but it was well written

I picked up this book from my library because the cover looked interesting and the blurb looked interesting. The book consists more musings and less research and organization. The author begins to tell a story or talk about a myth or idea, and then jumps from topic to topic, and we never see the end of her train of thought.

I stopped reading around Chapter 3, when the book turned to the "taboo" of being a redhead in the Elizabethan era without any mention of Queen Elizabeth being a redhead - not to mention that red hair during this time was actually quite fashionable.