Review: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant, is the story of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob from the book of Genesis. Diamant’s story is so well-researched and beautifully written that I believed that this was Dinah’s voice.

For someone who grew up with the stories of the Bible told simply and with no questions of who the good guys and bad guys are, it was a little strange to alter the way I thought about the iconic Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But this is Dinah’s story, and I embraced it. I have never wanted a happy ending for any character as desperately as I did for Diamant’s Dinah.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone, but especially for women. It is a book about mothers and daughters and should be read by anyone who is a mother or a daughter.

Though I wish I’d known about this amazing book long ago, it would have been a completely different experience if I had read it before I was a mother myself. I look forward to reading it again and again at different times in my life to see what else I can get out of it.

The Red Tent
By Anita Diamant
Picador, 1997

The Birth of a Book

Almost two years ago, I sat down with poet Anne Jennings Paris to discuss her book. Today I opened my mailbox and found the finished book, bound and printed. I was introduced to some of these poems when they were only ideas. And now I have a tangible book to hold in my hands and read again and again. Words I looked at and scribbled over countless times are now beautifully printed on the page of a book. And one of those pages has a clean white space awaiting the author's signature at next week's book launch (Tuesday, October 20 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, OR).

Don't let the fact that this is a book of poetry scare you away. It's concrete poetry that tells a story--five stories, in fact. Part poetry, part historical fiction, Paris gives voice to voiceless historical figures from the well known (York, the slave of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) to the obscure but fascinating (Charity Lamb, Oregon's first convicted murderess). With a special emphasis on the Pacific Northwest, Killing George Washington opens windows into the history of America itself--frontiersmen, slaves, explorers, pioneers, immigrants, and architects.

I know these poems backward and forward, but I can't wait to read them again--to turn my editor's brain off and fully enjoy the beauty of the language and the power of the stories.

Killing George Washington: The American West in Five Voices
Anne Jennings Paris
Published by Ooligan Press
$13.95

Buy it at: Powell's Books or Amazon

Wordstock 2009 is Next Weekend

Yes, it’s as awesome and geeky as it sounds—a Woodstock for word people. With workshops for writers and teachers throughout the weekend, the book festival is being held Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The festival has over 200 exhibitor booths of publishers and other word people including: Ooligan Press, Powell’s Books, Indigo Editing, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Timber Press, and Willamette Writers. Throughout both days you can visit with and get books signed by many different authors from the Northwest and beyond. There’s even an interactive children’s corner, so it’s a great event for the whole family. At the Oregon Convention Center, tickets are only $5 a day (children 13 and under are free) and can be purchased at the door. Check it out at:

www.wordstockfestival.com