Blood Orchid
An Unnatural History of America
Charles Bowden author William Langewiesche editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:University of Texas Press
Published:19th Sep '18
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Through stark observations and visceral experiences, Blood Orchid begins Charles Bowden’s dizzying excavation of the brutal, systemic violence and corruption at the roots of American society. Like a nightmarish fever dream that turns out to be our own reality, Bowden visits dying friends in skid row apartments in Los Angeles, traverses San Francisco byways lined with clubs and joints, and roams through village bars and streets in the Sierra Madre mountains. In these wanderings resides a yearning for the understanding of past and present sins, the human penchant for warfare, abuse, and oppression, and the true war between humanity, the industrialized world, and the immense tolls of our shared land. Deeply personal, hauntingly prophetic, and bracingly sharp, the start to Bowden’s harrowed quest to unearth our ugly truths remains strikingly poignant today.
Within pages [of Blood Orchid], I was mad for Bowden's style. His ferocity and pace of storytelling inspired me…to not shy away from infusing reportage with emotion. * High Country News *
[Bowden's] writing style has been compared to the Old Testament in its prophetic fury, and nowhere is that better on display than in Blood Orchid, a book that carries the reader on a journey through both natural and urban wildernesses to uncover the brutal roots of American society. * The Manual *
Bowden’s anger is delicious . . . [He] believes that the environmental crisis . . . is caused by the fact that ‘we have lost the fire and belief and courage to act.’ [Blood Orchid] is ironic proof that the embers of that fire still glow. * Outside *
Bowden is no conventional theologian, but he has written the best religious book on the subject of soul-death of any writer of our generation. -- Bill Holm * Hungry Mind Review *
ISBN: 9781477316849
Dimensions: 216mm x 140mm x 18mm
Weight: 399g
296 pages