Tell My Horse : Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica (Paperback)

by Zora Neale Hurston (Author) "Jamaica, British West Indies, has something else besides its mountains of majesty and its quick, green valleys..." (more)
Key Phrases: bah day, cochon gris, hog sign, Dieu Donnez, United States, Colonel Rowe (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Strikingly dramatic, yet simple and unrestrained...an unusual and intensely interesting book richly packed with strange information."-- "New York Times Book Review"

Product Description

As a first-hand account of the weird mysteries and horrors of voodoo, Tell My Horse is an invaluable resource and fascinating guide. Based on Zora Neale Hurston's personal experiences in Haiti and Jamaica, where she participated as an initiate rather than just an observer of voodoo practices during her visits in the 1930s, this travelogue into a dark world paints a vividly authentic picture of ceremonies and customs and superstitions of great cultural interest.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (January 22, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060916494
• ISBN-13: 978-0060916497
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #209,198 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #5 in	Books > Travel > Caribbean > Haiti
  #12 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > African American > Hurston, Zora Neale
  #13 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Hurston, Zora Neale

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zora's trip into voodoo, May 16, 2000

By	Dr. Stephen Hicks (Manchester, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In the late 1930s, Zora Neale Hurston toured Jamaica and Haiti on a Guggenheim Fellowship collecting folklore and voodoo materials for this book, published in 1938. The book is in three sections, covering her views of and experiences in Jamaica, people and politics of Haiti, and finally her initiation and participation in the world of Haitian voodoo. Zora maintains her usual stance of the involved, inquisitive participant, and her initiation into the ways of voodoo was, and is, both remarkable and engaging. From sexism in Jamaica to threats about her voodoo investigations, from commentary on her role as ethnographer to criticism of previous white studies of voodoo, the book is wild, and collects a huge range of important black cultural practices. Zora left the field hurriedly in 1938, desperately ill, convinced she might die, and sure that she had been 'hexed' for delving too deep into the world of 'bad' (petro) voodoo...have a read of one of the most important pieces of black folklore research of the 1930s. Parlay cheval ou! Ah bo bo!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging reading, fantastic stories, November 19, 2002

By A Customer

Reading this book is like travelling along with Ms. Neale Hurston as she explores life in Haiti. You will meet fanscinating and intriguing people. The practices and beliefs are explained in just enough detail to make you feel like you were there, but all the mystery is retained as even the author is unable to explain or understand the depth of experience and strength of beliefs held by the native Haitians. Finding non-fiction that reads like a novel is a rare and wonderful treasure.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It Will Change Your Reality, October 7, 2000

By	Guy Mead (Isle of Palms, South Carolina USA) - See all my reviews

If this book was fiction I would call it one of the most imaginative books I have ever read, but it's real. It is scary, unbelievably deep, and true. A wonderful anthropological gathering of stories, ceremonies , and everyday life. Let me wash my face with Jalapeno rum if I'm not telling the truth about this book being great. You can tell my horse.