Skip to main content

Review: High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never

For book #4 in my 52 book-this-year resolution (I’m behind, I know. I’m reading #5, 6, and 7 right now. I might catch up someday . . .), I read another Barbara Kingsolver book: High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never. Kingsolver describes this book as “creative nonfiction” – a collection of essays – some new, some previously written, organized in a loose theme, creating an excellent collection of very readable, enjoyable, and provocative stories. Kingsolver is just such an excellent writer, it seems any topic she tackles be a page-turner.

Highlights:
In the essay “Making Peace,” Kingsolver wonders about the modern concept of “No Trespassing,” writing, “’No Trespassing’ doesn’t just mean, ‘Don’t build your house here.’ It means: ‘All you see before you, the trees, the songbirds, the poison ivy, the water beneath the ground, the air you would breathe if you passed through here, the grass you would tread upon, the very idea of existing in this place – all these are mind.’ Nought but a human mind could think of such a thing. And nought but a human believes it.” (pp. 30-31)

“Somebody’s Baby” is another excellent essay, about the community responsibility to nurture children – and the community blessings of children. She remembers a time the community she lived in voted down the proposed school budget, with a letter-to-the-editor saying, “I don’t have kinds . . . so why should I have to pay to educate other people’s offspring?” Kingsolver reasons, “I longed to ask that miserly nonfather just whose offspring he expects to doctor the maladies of his old age.” She continues, “If we don’t wish to live by bread alone, we’ll need not only a farmer and a cook in the family but also a home repair specialist, an auto mechanic, an accountant (etc. etc.) . . . If that seems impractical, then we can accept other people’s kids into our lives, starting now.” (pg. 105)

In “The Spaces Between” Kingsolver writes about the dangers of racism that elevates other cultures, and therefore makes people of other cultures simply strange and exotic instead of human. “What began as anthropology has escalated to fad, and it strikes me that assigning magical power to a culture’s every belief and by-product is simply another way of setting those people apart. It’s more benign than burnings crosses on lawns, for sure, but ultimately not much more humane.” (pg. 148)

“In the Belly of the Beast” describes a fascinating visit to a missile museum in Tucson, housing a decommissioned Titan missile, and a moving visit to the museum in Hiroshima, cataloguing items melted and destroyed and devastated from the bomb dropped there.

“Paradise Lost,” as well as the opening/closing duo of “Hide Tide in Tucson” and the “Reprise” are other favorite. Another great read. Check it out!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sermon for First Sunday in Lent, Year B, "Jesus in the Wilderness," Mark 1:1-4, 9-15

Sermon 2/18/18 Mark 1:1-4, 9-15 Jesus in the Wilderness             You’ve heard me say before that the gospel of Mark is my favorite gospel. Part of the reason I love it is because of Mark’s brevity. I don’t love that he’s short on details, exactly. I love that he seems practically breathless in getting the good news of Jesus to us, and that he seems to believe that the news is so good it isn’t even going to take very many words to convince you of his message! His frantic style strikes me as showing both how important and how convincing he believes Jesus’s message to be.             But, then we arrive at a Sunday like today, and I find myself a little frustrated perhaps, or at least a little challenged by Mark. In the lectionary, the series of the first Sunday in the season of Lent always focuses on the temptation of Jesus – his time in the wilderness, where he confronts Satan, and commits to God’s path rather than the flashy alternative Satan presents. This is the fo

Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent, "Hope: A Thrill of Hope," Mark 1:1-8

Sermon 11/26/17 Mark 1:1-8 Hope: A Thrill of Hope             Are you a pessimist or an optimist? Is the glass of life half empty, or half full? My mom and I have gone back and forth about this a bit over the years. She’s wildly optimistic about most things, and sometimes I would say her optimism, her hopefulness borders on the irrational. If the weather forecast says there’s a 70% chance of a snowstorm coming, my mom will focus very seriously on that 30% chance that it is going to be a nice day after all. I, meanwhile, will begin adjusting my travel plans and making a backup plan for the day. My mom says I’m a pessimist, but I would argue that I’m simply a realist , trying to prepare for the thing that is most likely to happen, whether I like that thing or not. My mom, however, says she doesn’t want to be disappointed twice, both by thinking something bad is going to happen, and then by having the bad thing actually happen. She’d rather be hopeful, and enjoy her state of

Sermon for Second Sunday in Advent, "Peace: All Is Calm, All Is Bright," Isaiah 11:1-10, Mark 13:24-37

Sermon 12/3/17 Mark 13:24-37, Isaiah 11:1-10 Peace: All Is Calm, All Is Bright             “Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright. Round yon’ virgin mother and child. Holy infant, so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace.”             This week, I read news stories about North Korea testing a missile that perhaps could reach across the whole of the United States.             This week, I spoke with a colleague in ministry who had, like all churches in our conference, received from our church insurance company information about how to respond in an active shooter situation. She was trying to figure out how to respond to anxious parishioners and yet not get caught up in spending all of their ministry time on creating safety plans.             This week, we’ve continued to hear stories from people who have experienced sexual assault and harassment, as the actions, sometimes over decades, of men in positions of power have been