Roots of Desire: The Myth, Meaning, and Sexual Power of Red Hair

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Overview

"A unique blend of personal and cultural history."—Harper's Bazaar

Already in its sixth HARDCOVER printing, The Roots of Desire is a witty and entertaining investigation into the power, myth and meaning of red hair. Redheads have been worshipped, idealized, fetishized, feared, and condemned, leaving their mark on us and our culture. Such is the power of what is actually a genetic mutation, and in The Roots of Desire, Marion Roach takes a fascinating look at the science behind hair color and the roles redheads have played over time. A redhead herself, Roach brings candor and brilliant insight to the complicated and revealing history of redheads, making ...

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More About This Book

Overview

"A unique blend of personal and cultural history."—Harper's Bazaar

Already in its sixth HARDCOVER printing, The Roots of Desire is a witty and entertaining investigation into the power, myth and meaning of red hair. Redheads have been worshipped, idealized, fetishized, feared, and condemned, leaving their mark on us and our culture. Such is the power of what is actually a genetic mutation, and in The Roots of Desire, Marion Roach takes a fascinating look at the science behind hair color and the roles redheads have played over time. A redhead herself, Roach brings candor and brilliant insight to the complicated and revealing history of redheads, making this a stand-out narrative and an essential tool in understanding the mechanics and phenomenon of red hair. A must-have for every redhead.

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble
"Out of the ash I rise with red hair / And eat men like air." Sylvia Plath wasn't the first to recognize the primal power and threat of red hair. In Roots of Desire, Marion Roach brandishes historical proof stronger than any hair dye to demonstrate the fiery force of redheads. Delving into Greek mythology, vampire lore, and Inquisition interrogations, she reveals how red hair has long been linked to diabolical lust and primal urges.
Publishers Weekly
A redhead herself, NPR commentator Roach has an odd chip on her shoulder about it, relating all sorts of travails and opinions connected to red hair that the average non-redhead may never have guessed existed. To get to the bottom of our perceptions and experience of red hair, she explores the ancient legends of Lilith and Set, the traditions that depict both Judas and Mary Magdalene as redheads, and an Eve in London's St. Paul's Cathedral that has blond hair before the Fall and red hair after it. She visits "witch camp" in Vermont, a high-end hair salon in Manhattan, and Emily Dickinson's house, where a carefully preserved lock of the poet's red hair transforms Roach's image of her. Along the way, Roach (Another Name for Madness) makes some poignant points about what it means to belong to the redheaded minority in Western society, making gently suggestive comparisons to more overt patterns of prejudice. Yet the author seems to accept preconceptions about the sexuality and vivacity associated with red hair, and her jumping between examples often reads more like breathless conjecture than fact and leaches energy from extended vignettes, such as her visit with the witches. Whether readers enjoy this book will have a lot to do with whether they like the narrator's self-conscious red-headed persona. And, of course, whether they are as fascinated as she is by red hair. Agent, Kris Dahl. (July) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
From The Critics
"Roach approaches her subject from several angles, providing much that's entertaining."

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781582343440
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
  • Publication date: 7/7/2005
  • Pages: 256
  • Product dimensions: 5.28 (w) x 8.10 (h) x 1.08 (d)

Meet the Author

Marion Roach is the coauthor of Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers, which has recently been sold to HBO films, and Another Name for Madness, a memoir of coping with her mother's Alzheimer's. A commentator on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, she has published in the New York Times Magazine, Prevention, Vogue, Newsday, Good Housekeeping, Discover, and American Health.

Table of Contents

Prologue : a lurid tale 1
Ch. 1 Wild, oversexed heathens, banshees, and queens : redheaded women and how they make us feel the way we do 9
Ch. 2 The old poker and the inhabitants of pandemonium : it is in his kiss - and in our blood - to fear the red-haired man 37
Ch. 3 The blood that scares the hell into us : superstition, taboo, and the blood that divides us 55
Digestif : recipe for an identity 91
Ch. 4 A monk, two very different Victorians, and the knockout mouse : how we were delivered the genetics of hair color 96
Digestif : recipe for a heritage 120
Ch. 5 The itch of genetics/the genetics of itch : science has done little to extinguish the fire of the tale 125
Digestif : recipe for one redhead 153
Ch. 6 The palette of the succubus : on Satan the color red is one thing; on women, it is altogether another 157
Ch. 7 You may be many things, young lady, but you are no redhead : the tangle of sex and science are but two strands of the braid 182
Customer Reviews
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  • Posted February 23, 2009

    I'm a redhead and found it a fun read.

    Gave it to my young redheaded niece so she would know what to expect.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 21, 2007

    Sleep Inducing At Best

    This book poses somewhat of a conundrum. Is it an over-thought monologue on the author¿s own hair color, or an exceedingly dull scholarly treatise? The answer: it is both! It¿s a hodge-podge of historical references, anecdotes, and Patty Scialfa. Never delving deep enough into the history, it manages to still lay on what it does say with an all-too heavy brush, dripping with overindulgent prose. In the end, it is sound and fury signifying¿ the onset of sleep. If you are in need of a never-ending supply of sleep medication, save yourself some money and buy this book. If not, don¿t bother.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 5, 2006

    i love this book!

    i thought this book was awesome! i am a red head and very proud of it. this book just gave me more reason to be. i think a redheads' beauty is very much admired by on-lookers. i loved learning the history behind my hair, it's facinating! It gives a feeling of pride and empowerment.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 27, 2005

    Worst book i ever read!

    What was the publisher thinking?? This author could not write her way out of a paper bag. Not one paragraph connected to another. I continued to read hoping to find a paragraph that completed one thought. I was disappointed from one page to the next. Don't waste your money or time on this one.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 12, 2005

    More than you ever know

    I am very pleased with this book. Marion Roach is an author who speaks from her own experiences as a person with red hair. I myself have naturally red-orange hair and I can relate with the things said in this book. She also brings to light information that is little known but very pertinent to understanding the history and fascination with red hair. Her use of ancient beliefs and mythos about red hair is excellent. She is an author determined to give a voice to those who are very few and very stereotyped. Our red hair is our unique gift and it is about time someone dispelled the old wives tales about us. Marion Roach did an excellent job on this title. I recommend that anyone, regardless of hair color, read this. If you have red hair be proud you are in the select few. Finally, we now have proof that we are the most misunderstood of all hair colors.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 2, 2008

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 1, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted March 23, 2009

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