The Book of Medicines (Paperback)

by Linda Hogan (Author) "First there was some other order of things never spoken but in dreams of darkest creation..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Native American novelist and poet Hogan ( Seeing Through the Sun ) delivers poems of great verve. As in her other work, the poems anthologized here reflect both Hogan's Chickasaw heritage ("The grandmothers were my tribal gods") and a feminist sensibility ("I want the world to be kinder. / I am a woman. / I am afraid"), and many touch upon a concern for the earth ("This is the world without end / where forests have been cut away from their trees"). Through a history of the word red, the opening piece demonstrates the common bonds linking all humanity ("Red is this yielding land turned inside out by a country of hunters. . . . And red was the soldier / who crawled / through a ditch / of human blood in order to live"). Hogan's poetry is spare, elemental and direct, with a tremendous evocative force of imagery. She imbues simple things like crows, salt and bamboo with grace and dignity. A brief poem about a drought brings together Native oral tradition and modern reality, forming a prayer for rain. A piece about a chambered nautilus is a respectful bow to poetic tradition and the well-known work of Oliver Wendell Holmes. With this all too brief volume, Hogan has come into her own as an artist.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This is a book about skin: "how wounds healed/ from inside themselves/ how life stands up in skin/ if not by magic." It is a book about the suffering of the skin: for example of hollow bamboo that tells a story not only of nature's beauty, but also of human cruelty--torture by whipping. But it is also about the potential for healing and rebirth: the blood of Hogan's Chickasaw ancestors is "a map of the road between us." Hogan's short lines of unembellished free verse rely primarily on striking imagery, recurring metaphors, and strong statement: "The whale is the thick house of yesterday/ in red waters." Although at times the reachings in these ambitious poems fall short of the mark, Hogan writes movingly about human possibilities and limitations, refusing to differentiate between body and spirit. Her poems pursue "the hot barefoot dance/ that burns your feet/ but you can't stop/ trading gifts/ with the land." Recommended for poetry collections.
- Ellen Kaufman, Dewey Ballantine Law Lib., New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Coffee House Press; First Edition edition (June 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566890101
• ISBN-13: 978-1566890106
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #454,480 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LIFE-SAVING POETRY, August 9, 2001

By	Patricia Worth (Tierra Luna, NM USA) - See all my reviews

Loss, redemption, ruptures and healings. From the roots of a native perspective, Hogan chants vivid stories in poems that illuminate and heal. With true magic, she opens us to greater depth and vision through the power of words that haunt and whisper and eventually compel us to change. Raise yourself up and read this collection.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great poetry begins with Hogan, February 8, 2007

By	Ethan Hamilton - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hagan is great. once you read her you will be like me and turn into a serious addict. her words are mesmerizing and captivating. give this a try and you wont regret the choice or the cost. also read savings

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Return to Nature, July 10, 2006

By	Erin S. Moses - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hogan has tapped into her ancestrial history and brought to light the importance of connection back to nature and how much we need it in our lives.

Hogan takes her readers through history and rewrites/transforms the mythology of our beginnings. In short it seems that Hogan says Nature was here before man and can live without man, man however, cannot live without nature and now, with the destruction that man has caused and continues to cause to nature, we are dependant upon each other to survive. It is our job, mans, to correct our errors, that we may all continue to live in the centuries to come, that our children's children may enjoy the beauty and wonder of towering trees, mysterious animals, and colorful flowers, along with the flowing waters of rivers, lakes and the ocean at large.

Hogan is amazing in her works, a must read for any reader. With her works, the possibilities are endless.