Rating: 
Summary: A critical look into the real history of America.
Review: A must read for every American. Imagine that the problems we see every day are not individual issues, but are symptoms of a more global sickness. Bowden challenges the reader to face the truth about our culture, America as we know it is dead, as he says, pick up a newspaper, our obiturary is on every page. Written from the optimistic perspective that a problem identified can be a problem solved, Bowden delivers a powerful contribution to our modern times. A must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Blood orchid
Review: As the Hammer Orchid seduces its prey with false promises of satisfaction, Charles Bowden draws his readers into his own personal saga of pain with an impressive display of anger and wrath. Multitudes of partially coherent and mostly unrelated images of sex and war are thrown to the reader at a steadily unrelenting pace, leaving one with the choice of either leaving them at the table, or ingesting them wholly and accepting the emotional heartburn that will accompany the feast. For those who choose the path of greater resistance, the rewards will follow. A highly recommended but particularly difficult read, intended for those with a passionate devotion to nature, man, history and their shared bonds.
Rating:
Summary: Blood orchid
Review: As the Hammer Orchid seduces its prey with false promises of satisfaction, Charles Bowden draws his readers into his own personal saga of pain with an impressive display of anger and wrath. Multitudes of partially coherent and mostly unrelated images of sex and war are thrown to the reader at a steadily unrelenting pace, leaving one with the choice of either leaving them at the table, or ingesting them wholly and accepting the emotional heartburn that will accompany the feast. For those who choose the path of greater resistance, the rewards will follow. A highly recommended but particularly difficult read, intended for those with a passionate devotion to nature, man, history and their shared bonds.
Rating: 
Summary: The Destruction of a Great Nation
Review: Blood Orchid is a seething look at events that have led, and continue to lead this country to utter destruction. Bowden seems to foam at the mouth like a rabid dog as he talks of our inability to stop the disease that is slowly annihilating the country and all who come in contact with it. Most disturbing are the people who are doing this. Unknown to most, the enemy is close, senses death, and is waiting to devour the carcass of a once great nation. This book is a must read for anyone who thinks we are living in a perfect world.
Rating:
Summary: Blood Orchid gets hammered.
Review: Blood Orchid is a work that defies categorization, it is as much a history of America as it is a piece of philosophy. Bowden writes in his introduction, "I have clocked 7,000 miles by truck in the last thirty days and I am hunkered in a motel room high in the Rocky Mountains and yet no nearer to God." Nor to a concrete point either it would seem. Bowden writes about war, and how we go about perpetuating our own destruction through it. It is in this social critique that I see Bowden's rant moving with a purpose. That purpose is to reveal life for what it really is, and he does so successfully. Blood Orchid is a piece of philosophy of life, albeit a fairly depressing one, Bowden writes about life as we have made it, and in that does an excellent job.
Rating:
Summary: 7,000 miles to coherency
Review: Blood Orchid is a work that defies categorization, it is as much a history of America as it is a piece of philosophy. Bowden writes in his introduction, "I have clocked 7,000 miles by truck in the last thirty days and I am hunkered in a motel room high in the Rocky Mountains and yet no nearer to God." Nor to a concrete point either it would seem. Bowden writes about war, and how we go about perpetuating our own destruction through it. It is in this social critique that I see Bowden's rant moving with a purpose. That purpose is to reveal life for what it really is, and he does so successfully. Blood Orchid is a piece of philosophy of life, albeit a fairly depressing one, Bowden writes about life as we have made it, and in that does an excellent job.
Rating:
Summary: Blood Orchid gets hammered.
Review: Blood Orchid is filled and covered with blood. But blood brings healing. It is hard to write a good review when I have some mixed feelings about this book. I have read a few books with similar topics this past summer and they leave me numb, but I am captivated by Bowden's metaphor, whether I like it or not. He definitely has a way with words and word pictures.
In the midst of his openness and honesty he sounds as if he is regurgitating a bitter pill someone has given him to swallow. This makes the book even more compelling and hard to put down, always returning to the lesson in botany and zoology provided by the wasp and the hammer orchid. After all, are we not biological beings also? Is not everything connected by a thin cord? It is like the picture of Coyote Man being the trickster and the tricked, with irony everywhere.
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Summary: A Book Not for Everyone
Review: Charles Bowden certainly writes a compelling book, full of unforgettable imagery and his strong voice. His take on America's unsettling history is a huge step away from idealized grammerschool fables that many of us have been raised with, yet necessary if one is to understand world politics and America's place in them. Although frank and disturbing in some sections, Bowdens book is a very powerful read for someone looking for another persective on America. I would only recommend this book for those with strong nerves and a stong stomache. For those people it is a great book, for others, happy with a "sunshine" image of America, it would be better to pass on this title.
Rating:
Summary: You might not like it if you love America
Review: Charles Bowden has some thought provoking ideas about what is going wrong with America. He comes across as sarcastic, disgusted, and fooled. He sticks with the blood orchid metaphor throughout the book, which works great for his purposes, but America is not that bad, is it? Didn't we fight a bunch of wars to ensure that America would be free? Sure, we have problems; our impoverished Wal-Mart workers have to choose between food and gas, and our government is convinced that it is the answer to our happiness, but the government is wrong, after all. This book provides a down-to-Earth look at our world and raises good questions about our society. I like to think Bowden has been too close to academia and has forgotten how great it is to be free to write this stuff.
Rating:
Summary: You might not like it if you love America
Review: Charles Bowden has some thought provoking ideas about what is going wrong with America. He comes across as sarcastic, disgusted, and fooled. He sticks with the blood orchid metaphor throughout the book, which works great for his purposes, but America is not that bad, is it? Didn't we fight a bunch of wars to ensure that America would be free? Sure, we have problems; our impoverished Wal-Mart workers have to choose between food and gas, and our government is convinced that it is the answer to our happiness, but the government is wrong, after all. This book provides a down-to-Earth look at our world and raises good questions about our society. I like to think Bowden has been too close to academia and has forgotten how great it is to be free to write this stuff.
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