Publications: Selected Book Reviews
My reviews of books have appeared in
The general subject areas of the books I have reviewed include
Books on Tarot, or including essays on Tarot
Books on Literature, Film, and Visual Art
Books on Tolkien and Arthuriana
Books on Inuit, Native, and Northern Art and Culture
- Alaska Journal of Anthropology
- Canadian Journal of Native Studies
- Coreopsis: A Journal of Myth and Theatre
- Correspondences (forthcoming)
- Facing North
- Inuit Studies
- Journal of American Culture
- Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts
- Journal of Popular Culture
- Journal of Religion and Popular Culture
- Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature
- Mythprint: A Monthly Bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society
- Preternature
- Southwest Journal of Culture
The general subject areas of the books I have reviewed include
- Tarot, or including essays on Tarot, and related Visual Arts
- Popular Literature, Film, and Visual Art
- Tolkien and Arthuriana
- Inuit, Native, and Northern Art and Culture
Books on Tarot, or including essays on Tarot
- Briefly Noted: Ithell Colquhoun Taro as Colour Tarot deck and book by Ithell Colquhoun. Mythlore 41.2 (Spring/Summer 2023): 280.
- Rev. of Casey Gilly (author) and Tomas Hijo's The Lord of the Rings Tarot Deck and Guide (Insight Editions, 2022). Mythlore 41.2 (Spring/Summer 2023): 245-47.
- Rev. of Victoria Jenkins's Visions of the Occult: An Untold Story of Art and Magic (Tate, 2022). Facing North (February 2023).
- Rev. of Susan Aberth and Tere Arcq's The Tarot of Leonora Carrington (Book) (Editorial RM 2023). Facing North (February 2023).
- Rev. of Ithell Colquhoun's Taro as Colour (Deck). Facing North (January 2023).
- Combined Rev. of T. Susan Chang's 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot (Anima Mundi Press, 2021); T. Susan Chang and M. M. Meleen's Tarot Deciphered: Decoding Esoteric Symbolism in Modern Tarot (Llewellyn, 2021) with foreword by Lon Milo DuQuette; and T. Susan Chang's Tarot Correspondences: Ancient Secrets for Everyday Readers (Llewellyn, 2018, fifth printing 2021). Correspondences 10.2 (2022): 1-5. Advance copy available for pdf download.
- Rev. of Laetitia Barbier's Tarot and Divination Cards: A Visual Archive with a foreword by Rachel Pollack. Abrams/Cernunnos Coreopsis 10.2 (Autumn 2022).
- Rev. of Sarah Bartlett's Iconic Tarot Decks: The History, Symbolism, and Design of over 50 Decks. Francis Lincoln, an Imprint of The Quarto Group, 2021. Coreopsis 10.1 (Spring 2022).
- Rev. of "Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully: The Supersensual Life of Ithell Colquhoun Artist and Occultist by Amy Hale. Strange Attractor Press, 2020." Facing North (June 2022).
- Rev. of "Pamela Colman Smith Tarot Artist: The Pious Pixie by Dawn G. Robinson. Fonthill Media, 2020." Mythlore 40.2 (Spring/Summer 2022): 249-51.
- Rev. of "Pamela Colman Smith: Artist, Feminist, and Mystic by Elizabeth Foley O'Connor. Clemson University Press, 2021." Mythlore 40.2 (Spring/Summer 2022): 251-54.
- Rev. of "Iconic Tarot Decks: The History, Symbolism and Design of over 50 Decks by Sarah Bartlett. Francis Lincoln, an Imprint of The Quarto Group, 2021." Coreopsis: A Journal of Myth and Theatre 10.1 (Spring 2022).
- Review Essay: "Women Tarot Artists Inspired by the Golden Dawn: Recent Publications." Includes a discussion of Mina Bergson/Moina Mathers, Pamela Colman Smith, Jessie Burns Park, and Frieda Harris, as context for several recent publications from Fulgur Press: The Tarot of Leonora Carrington with contributions by Gabriel Weisz Carrington, Leonora Carrington, Susan Aberth, and Tere Arcq (2020); Major Arcana: Leonora Carrington (22 cards and pamphlet with essay by Rachel Pollack (2020); and Taro as Colour by Ithell Colquhoun with an Introduction by Amy Hale (2018). Mythlore 40.1 (Fall/Winter 2021): 242-48.
- Rev. of "The Cards: The Evolution and Power of Tarot by Patrick Maille. University Press of Mississippi, 2021." Mythlore 40.1 (Fall/Winter 2021): 274-80.
- Rev. of "Essential Tarot Writings: A Collection of Source Texts in Western Occultism by Donald Tyson. Llewellyn, 2020." Facing North. November 2021.
- Rev. of "Tarot Magic: Ceremonial Magic Using Golden Dawn Correspondences by Donald Tyson. [Originally published as Portable Magic by Llewellyn, 2006). Llewellyn 2018. Fifth printing 2021." Facing North. November 2021.
- Rev. of "The History of Tarot Art: Demystifying the Art & Arcana, Deck by Deck by Holly Adams Easley & Esther Joy Archer. Epic Ink, Quarto Group, 2021." Facing North. October 2021.
- Rev. of "Tarot Fundamentals/ Tarot Experience/ Tarot Compendium, edited and compiled by Sasha Graham. Lo Scarabeo 2015, 2016, 2017." Facing North. September 2021.
- Rev. of "Tarot by the Moon: Spreads and Spells for Every Month of the Year, by Victoria Constantino. Llewellyn, 2021." Facing North. September 2021.
- Combined Rev. of "Tarot edited and written by Jessica Hundley with essays by Penny Slinger, Johannes Fiebig, and Marcella Kroll. Taschen, 2020; and Astrology edited by Jessica Hundley with essays by Andrea Richards, foreword by Susan Miller. Taschen, 2020." Mythlore 39.2 (Spring/Summer 2021): 162-65.
- Rev. of "The Art of the Occult: A Visual Sourcebook for the Modern Mystic by S. Elizabeth. White Lion Publishing, 2020." Mythlore 39.2 (Spring/Summer 2021): 177-81.
- Combined Rev. of "A Treatise on the Deification of Sixteen Heroes by Marziano Da Sant' Alosio, with text, translation, introduction and notes by Ross G.R. Caldwell and Marco Ponzi. Scholion Press, 2019; The Marziano Tarot The Oldest Known Tarot Deck Conceived by Marziano da Tortona, First Created by Michelino da Besozzo in Milan between 1412 and 1425 recreated in 2015 by Robert Place. Hermes Publications, 2016; and Explaining the Tarot in Sixteenth Century Italy, with translation and commentary by Ross Sinclair Caldwell, Thierry Depaulis, and Marco Ponzi. Second edition. 2018." Mythlore 38.2 (Spring/Summer 2020): 221-25.
- Rev. of "Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story by Stuart R. Kaplan, Mary K. Greerm Elizabeth Foley O'Connor, and Melinda Boyd Parsons. U.S. Games Systems, 2018." Mythlore 37.2 (Spring/Summer 2019): 228-231.
- Rev. of "Tarot of the Future: Raising Spiritual Consciousness, by Arthur Rosengarten. Paragon House, 2018." Mythlore 36.2 (Spring/Summer 2018): 263-65.
- Rev. of "Lost Envoy: The Tarot Deck of Austin Osman Spare ed. Jonathan Allen. Strange Attractor Press, 2016." Preternature (Spring 2017): 186-88.
- Rev. of "Charles Williams: The Third Inkling. Oxford University Press, 2015 by Grevel Lindop." Mythprint 53.3 (Fall 2016): 7-8. Link to the Review.
- Rev of "Arcana: The Tarot Card Anthology [Poetry anthology], edited by Marjorie Jensen. Minor Arcana Press, 2015." Mythprint: Quarterly Bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society 53.1 (Spring 2016): 9-10. Link to the Review.
- Combined Rev. of "The Hobbit Tarot, by Terry Donaldson (author of guide pamphlet) and Peter Pracownik (artist). Stamford, CT: U.S. Games Systems, Inc., 2012. 78-card deck and booklet. 96 pp.; The Lord of the Rings Tarot Deck and Card Game by Terry Donaldson (author of guidebook), Peter Pracownik (artist), and Mike Fitzgerald (game rules). Stamford, CT: U.S. Games Systems, Inc., 1997. 78-car deck, and book 272 pp. including b/w illus. of the cards, bibliography. Out of print." Mythlore 121/122 (Spring/Summer 2013): 136-38.
- Rev. of "Francesco Clemente: The Tarots & Self-Portraits as the Twelve Apostles. Exhibition Catalogue. Ed. Max Seidel. Essays by Marzia Faietti, Antonio Natali, Francesco Pellizzi, and Max Seidel. Hirmer Verlag, 2011." Tarosophist International: The Magazine of Tarosophy® & Tarot 1.17 (Winter 2012): 20-22.
- Rev. of "Abiding in the Sanctuary: The Waite-Trinick Tarot A Christian Mystical Tarot (1917–1923), by Tali Goodwin and Marcus Katz, preface by Mary K. Greer. Keswick: Forge Press/blurb.com, 2011." Mythlore 30.3/4 (Spring/Summer 2012): 171-72.
- Rev. of "The William Blake Tarot of the Creative Imagination, by Ed Buryn [Revised Edition]." Tarosophist International: The Magazine of Tarosophy® & Tarot 1.13 (Winter 2011): 12-16.
- Rev. of "Fortune's Lover: A Book of Tarot Poems, by Rachel Pollack. New York: Midsummer Night's Press, 2009." FemSpec 10.2 (2010).
- Rev. of "An Introduction to Western Esotericism: Essays in the Hidden Meaning of Literature, Groups, and Games, by Nadya Q. Chishty-Mujahid. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 2008." FemSpec 10.2 (2010).
- Rev. of "Niki de Saint Phalle and the Tarot Garden, with essay by Jill Johnson, et al. Benteli Verlag, 2010." Tarosophist International: The Magazine of Tarosophy® & Tarot 1.9 (Winter 2010): 67-69.
- Rev. of "A Cultural History of Tarot From Entertainment to Esotericism, by Helen Farley. New York: I.B. Taurus, 2009." Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 21.2 (2010): 294-96.
- Rev. of "Esotericism, Art, and Imagination, edited by Arthur Versluis, Lee Irwin, John Richards, and Melinda Weinstein. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2009." Mythlore 107/108 (2009): 180-82. Link to the Review
- Rev. of "Esoteric Symbols: The Tarot in Yeats, Eliot, and Kafka, by June Leavitt. New York: University Press of America, 2007." Journal of Popular Culture 41.1 (February 2008): 159-61.
Books on Literature, Film, and Visual Art
- Rev. of Surrealism and Magic: Enchanted Modernity. Exhibition and Catalog by Grazina Subelyte and Daniel Zamini. Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the Museum Barbarini in Assoc. with Prestel, 2022. Facing North (July 2023). Link to the Review.
- Rev. of Supernatural America: The Paranormal in American Art. Exhibition curator and book editor Robert Cozzolino. Minneapolis Institute of Art in assoc. with the University of Chicago Press, 2021. Facing North (June 2023). Link to the Review.
- Rev. of "Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology, by Adrienne Mayor. Princeton UP, 2018." Mythlore 38.1 (Fall/Winter 2019): 67-69. Link to the Review
- Rev. of "Industrial Society and the Science Fiction Blockbuster: Social Critique of Films of Lucas, Scott and Cameron by Mark T. Decker. McFarland, 2016." The Journal of American Culture 40.3 (Sept. 2017): 283-284.
- Rev. of "Carmen, A Gypsy Geography, by Ninotchka Devorah Bennahum. Wesleyan University Press, 2013." Journal of Popular Culture 48.2 (April 2015). 429-31.
- Rev. of "The Postmodern Sacred: Popular Culture Spirituality in the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Urban Fantasy Genres, by Emily McAvan. McFarland, 2012. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 26.2 (Summer 2014): 263-64.
- Rev. of "The Ashgate Research Companion to Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism and the Occult, edited by Tatiana Kontou and Sarah Willburn. Ashgate Publishing, 2012." Journal of Popular Culture 46.6. (Dec. 2013): 1371-1372.
- Combined Rev. of "Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred; and Mutants & Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal, by Jeffrey J. Kripal. University of Chicago Press, 2010. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 25.3 (2013): 436-38.
- Rev. of "Paranormal Media: Audiences, Spirits and Magic in Popular Culture, by Annette Hill. Routledge, 2011." Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 24.1 (Spring 2012): 170-71.
- Rev. of "Deadly Powers: Animal Predators and the Mythic Imagination, by Paul A. Trout. Prometheus Books, 2011." Mythprint: A Monthly Bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society 48.11 #352 (November 2011): 10. Link to the Review
- Rev. of "Supernatural Fiction in Early Modern Drama and Culture, by Ryan Curtis Friesen. Brighton, Portland, Toronto: Sussex Academic Press, 2010." Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 23.1 (April 2011) 90-91.
- Rev. of "Cinema and Classical Texts: Apollo's New Light, by Martin M. Winkler. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009." Journal of Popular Culture 43.3 (2010): 644-45.
- Rev. of "The Lure of the Dark Side Satan & Western Demonology in Popular Culture, edited by Christopher Partridge and Eric Christianson. Equinox, 2009." Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 22.1 (2010).
- Rev. of "Red Planets: Marxism and Science Fiction edited by Mark Bould and China Miéville. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan UP, 2009." FemSpec 10.2 (2010).
- Rev. of "Fairy Tales Reimagined: Essays on New Retellings edited by Susan Redington Bobby. Jefferson: McFarland, 2009." FemSpec 10.2 (2010).
- Rev. of "Esotericism, Art and Imagination edited by Arthur Versluis, Lee Irwinm, John Richards, and Melinda Weinstein. East Lansing: Michigan State UP, 2009." Mythlore 28.1 (2009): 180-82.
Books on Tolkien and Arthuriana
- Rev. of The Shamanic Odyssey: Homer, Tolkien, and the Visionary Experience, by Robert Tindall and Susana Bustos. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 2012. Mythlore 33.2 (Spring/Summer 2015): 161-63.
- Rev. of "Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays, ed. Jason Fisher. McFarland, 2011." Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 23.1 (2012): 108-110.
- Rev. of "Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy, eds. Janice M. Bogstad and Philip E. Kaveny. McFarland, 2011." Mythlore 30.3/4 (Spring/Summer 2012): 151-52.
- Rev. of "Illustrating Camelot, by Barbara Tepa Lupack with Alan Lupack. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2008." Journal of Popular Culture 42.3 (June 2009): 557-58.
- Rev. of "Tolkien and Shakespeare: Essays on Shared Themes and Language, ed. Janet Brennan Croft. Jefferson: McFarland, 2007." Mythlore 26.3-4 (Spring/Summer 2008): 199-201.
Books on Inuit, Native, and Northern Art and Culture
- Rev. of "Mapping Modernisms: Art, Indigeneity, Colonialism edited by Elizabeth Harney and Ruth B. Phillips. Duke University Press, 2018." Forthcoming 2019.
- Rev. of "Carving Life Walrus Ivory Carvings from the Bering Sea by Eleanor M. Imperato." Exhibition catalogue for the QCC [Queensborough Community College] Art Gallery. New York: Kilima House Publishers, 2017." Alaska Journal of Anthropology. 17.1-2 (2019): 173-74.
- Rev. of "The Echo of Odin: Norse Mythology and Human Consciousness, by Edward W.L. Smith. McFarland, 2018." Mythlore 38.1 (Fall/Winter 2019): 62-64.
- Rev. of "Art for an Undivided Earth: The American Indian Movement Generation by Jessica Horton. Durham NC: Duke University Press, 2017." Canadian Journal of Native Studies 37.2 (2017): 204-206.
- Rev. of Edgar Heap of Birds by Bill Anthes. Durham & London: Duke University Press, 2015." Canadian Journal of Native Studies 36.1 (2016): 233- 34.
- Rev. of "Isuma: The Art and Imagination of Ruben Anton Komangapik, by Estelle Marcoux Komangapik, Geneviève Larocque, Ruben Anton Komangapik, and Dorothee Komangapik. Inhabit Media, 2011." Inuit Studies 36.1 (Summer 2012): 213-14.
- Rev. of "Native American Freemasonry: Associationalism and Performance in America, by Joy Porter. U of Nebraska Press, 2011." Canadian Journal of Native Studies 32.2 (2012): 221-22.
- Rev. of "Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers, by Mark Cronlund Anderson and Carmen L. Robertson. University of Manitoba Press, 2011." Canadian Journal of Native Studies 32.1 (2012): 210-11.
- Rev. of "Animals and Humans: Recurrent Symbiosis in Archaeology in Old Norse Religion by Kristina Jennbert. Nordic Academic Press, 2011." Mythlore 31.1/2 (Fall/Winter 2012): 169-71.
- Rev. of "Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages, by Stephen A. Mitchell. Philadelphia and Oxford: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011." Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 24 (2012): 326-27.
- Rev. of "The Fast Runner: Filming the Legend of Atanarjuat, by Michael Robert Evans. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2010." Inuit Studies 34.2 (2010): 189-90.
- Rev. of "The Sea Woman: Sedna in Inuit Shamanism and Art in the Eastern Arctic, by Frederic Laugrand and Jarich Oosten. University of Alaska Press, 2008." Inuit Studies 33,1-2 (2009): 269-72.
- Combined Rev. of "Fritz Scholder: Indian/Not Indian, edited by Lowery Stokes Sims. National Museum of the American Indian. 2008. [Re]inventing the Wheel: Advancing the Dialogue on Contemporary Indian Art [with DVD], edited by Nancy J. Blomberg. Denver Art Museum. 2008. Interventions: Native American Art for Far-Flung Territories, by Judith Ostrowitz. University of Washington Press, 2009." Canadian Journal of Native Studies 30.1 (2010): 191-94.
- Rev. of "Art from Fort Marion: The Silberman Collection, by Joyce M. Szabo. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008." Southwest Journal of Cultures Post 1 (Fall 2008). Link to the Review