Baptism of Desire: Poems
by Louise Erdrich
On This Page
Description
A second book of poetry by Louise Erdich, author of the bestselling and award winning novels Love Medicine, The Beet Queen and Tracks. Baptisim by blood, water, or desire is necessary for salvation in Roman Catholic tradition, and baptism of desire in the term used for the leap of trust by which a sincere believer can experience spiritual regeneration.Louise Erdrich's poems are acts of redemption. Everywhere evident is Erdrich's unique capacity for finding the perfect word, the fresh, yet show more absolutely right, metaphor that makes her wrk both profound and accessable. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Interesting collection of poetry. Louise Erdrich is an Ojibwe author whose novels and poetry explore the intersection of her father's catholic faith and her native heritage. I don't endorse her religious vision, but the poems are entertaining. There is also a prose story (myth?) about his death, afterlife and reincarnation of Potchikoo. I especially liked Potchickoo's discovery that white-people-hell is to be chained by the neck to the Sears Roebuck Catalog. The story is wickedly funny.
My favorite poems in this volume are the most overtly religious. Part one of this volume has poems that evoke Erdrich's Catholic heritage. I especially liked Saint Clare and the seven part poem The Sacraments exploring the seven sacraments of the show more Catholic church, of course redefined. show less
My favorite poems in this volume are the most overtly religious. Part one of this volume has poems that evoke Erdrich's Catholic heritage. I especially liked Saint Clare and the seven part poem The Sacraments exploring the seven sacraments of the show more Catholic church, of course redefined. show less
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
70+ Works 45,254 Members
Karen Louise Erdrich was born on June 7, 1954 in Little Falls, Minnesota. Erdrich grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota, where both of her parents were employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Erdrich graduated from Dartmouth College in 1976 with an AB degree, and she received a Master of Arts show more in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University in 1979. Erdrich published a number of poems and short stories from 1978 to 1982. In 1981 she married author and anthropologist Michael Dorris, and together they published The World's Greatest Fisherman, which won the Nelson Algren Award in 1982. In 1984 she won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Love Medicine, which is an expansion of a story that she had co-written with Dorris. Love Medicine was also awarded the Virginia McCormick Scully Prize (1984), the Sue Kaufman Prize (1985) and the Los Angeles Times Award for best novel (1985). In addition to her prose, Erdrich has written several volumes of poetry, a textbook, children's books, and short stories and essays for popular magazines. She has been the recipient of numerous awards for professional excellence, including the National Magazine Fiction Award in 1983 and a first-prize O. Henry Award in 1987. Erdrich has also received the Pushcart Prize in Poetry, the Western Literacy Association Award, the 1999 World Fantasy Award, and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction in 2006. In 2007 she refused to accept an honorary doctorate from the University of North Dakota in protest of its use of the "Fighting Sioux" name and logo. Erdrich's novel The Round House made the New York Times bestseller list in 2013. Her other New York Times bestsellers include Future Home of the Living God (2017). (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 119
- Popularity
- 272,868
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.69)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 1
