Voodoo Fire In Haiti [Library Binding]

Richard Loederer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1935

1935. A memoir about Haiti, its history, legends, superstitions, native rites and customs. The illustrations are the famous series of Haitian woodcuts created by the author, which some find racist, yet sexy. Contents: Congo Bean Stew; In Caribbean Waters; Massacre River; Jungle Magic; Tropical Fever; Mon Repos; Polychromata; La Ferriere; King Christophe of Haiti; Black Magic; and Voodoo Fire. Certain scenes in this book were adapted from John W. Vandercook's Black Majesty, which is also available from Kessinger Publishing.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

"The drums took on a different rhythm, rattling out a sharp staccato message, accompanied by the heavy pounding of the bass. Faster and faster flew the feet of the dancers as they whirled round the fire. Their smooth muscles writhed and cramped as under the blows of an invisible whip." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

"The drums took on a different rhythm, rattling out a sharp staccato message, accompanied by the heavy pounding of the bass. Faster and faster flew the feet of the dancers as they whirled round the fire. Their smooth muscles writhed and cramped as under the blows of an invisible whip." From his steamer voyage from Jazz Age New York to Cap Haitien to his punishing trek through the island's interior jungle to his rapt, yet fearful, attendance at an authentic voodoo ceremony, Richard A. Loederer captures the sights, sounds, and sensations of this mysterious Caribbean republic. Originally published in German in 1932, Loederer's eyewitness account of his adventures in Haiti has long been out of print. The author's own art deco-style woodcuts add to the exotic appeal of this volume, which chronicles the vanishing African traditions of the island's people. Richard A. Loederer (1894-1981) was born in Vienna and trained as an artist at both the Academy of Fine Arts there and the Schule Reimann in Berlin. After moving to New York City, he illustrated several books and painted murals for the Works Progress Administration. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: Reprint Services Corp (January 1935)
• ISBN-10: 0781206847
• ISBN-13: 978-0781206846
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,485,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magic All Around You, January 8, 2010

By 

Jim Duggins, Ph.D. "Author, The Power and Sla... (Rancho Mirage, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voodoo Fire In Haiti (Paperback)

"Voodoo Fire in Haiti" was first printed in Germany in 1932. An English Language edition followed in 1935. Wonderfully written, the book itself has a kind of magic in its ability to cast a spell upon the reader to take a step back in time; or, for that matter, to weave a spell of the magic that is all about us. More than anything else, the book is a beatifully described journey, a travelogue through the jungles, the beaches and mountains of Haiti, an enchanted island.

Author Loederer describes in exquisite detail the geography of stone, botannical, and biological creatures of a tropical paradise that can be a Dante-esque hell of creeping, crawling, biting insects and animals.

In this book you'll find the beauty of flora and fauna, the stone and stars of a mystical world as Loederer guides with lyrical, poetic phrases and le mot juste to lead you to experience as he did -- as well as prose ever can recreate experience for another. True to its premise, the journey is shaped by the living presence of voodoo in all that is Haitian.

To read this book is to take an unforgettable journey. And, best of all, at journey's end, we're treated to a riveting voodoo ceremony that we can never forget.

3 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Why dont nonHaitians stay out of Haiti?, March 22, 2007

By 

Amen Farel "Kross" (Camden, NJ) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Voodoo Fire In Haiti (Paperback)

I figure it was Seabrook who began this fad of europeans going to Haiti and while looking around Haiti with racist eyes using terms like "primitive" etc but at the same time, trying to steal knowledge that europeans no absolutely nothing about..knowledge that the west isn't even ready for. Europeans say the things done in Haiti are impossible but there are dozens of destructive eurocentric pale people who traveled there (while maintaining their western mentality towards people of color, also known as relentless-racism) and run around chasing light-skinned Haitian women (like Wade davis and the rest) and learn less than 1% of what African spirituality really has to offer, then come back to amerikkka and write a book about their experiences with the "primitives"....Its funny because they all admit they went through things that are said to be impossible in the west....but yet they still call the Haitians and their ways "primitive". It disgusts me.
After going through the mental trauma that the African's in Haiti went through, caused by european slavetrading monsters, they have what is called "Post-traumatic slavery symdrome". Thats the only reason they allow european blood-suckers to come to that island of freedom, or as Seabring called it, "the Magic Island", and exploit African knowledge. Haiti is the true "Land of the Free". Haiti did a statistically impossible deed, the only successful slavery uprise in the course of written history. Haiti defeated the french, spanish and english and kept that little island for themselves. Haiti has had many corrupt governments, due to the mulatto's affect on the government and many other reasons and while they are trying to get it back together some troublemaking good-for-nothing colorless nonpigmented melaninless pale people walk their bony little bodies onto the "Magic Island" and try to steal African secrets while the brothers there are going through hell due to european influence,western politics and inner turmoil started by outsiders. If the europeans didnt have the evil inside them to start the slave trade the Haitians would still be in Dahomey ruling their own Kingdom, they'd steal be in Sierra Leonne counting their diamonds that flow like rivers there, the Haitians would still be Benin contributing to the oldest religion on the face of the planet, if the Haitians werent illegally kidnapped they'd still be in the Congo which has more natural resources than nearly any other spot in the world. All the Haitians went through and moral-less europeans are still bothering those great people....damn shame....well at least Seabrook appeared to have got what he deserved for trying to exploit African secrets...Seabrook went crazy and died in his end...maybe because of something he saw...maybe because of something he said...who knows....but in my opinion, either way..he got exactly what he deserved.