Blood Orchid: : An Unnatural History of America

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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.

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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.