A Chorus of Stones: The Private Life of War - Softcover

Griffin, Susan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 038541885X ISBN 13: 9780385418850

Publisher: Anchor, 1993

Synopsis

Written by one of America's most innovative and articulate feminists, this book illustrates how childhood experience, gender and sexuality, private aspirations, and public personae all assume undeniable roles in the causes and effects of war.

About this title

About the Author:

The author of more than 20 books, Susan Griffin has won dozens of awards for her work as a poet, feminist writer, essayist, playwright, and filmmaker. Her book A Chorus of Stones was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The recipient of an Emmy, a MacArthur Grant, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, she is a frequent contributor to Ms. magazine, the New York Times Book Review, and numerous other publications. She lives in Berkeley, California.

Review:

"Perhaps every moment of time lived in human consciousness remains in the air around us." With these words Susan Griffin begins to draw the connections between personal histories and the violent and often unspoken events of this century. Believing that "each solitary story belongs to a larger story," she tells us the sad and violent tale of her childhood. Her calm and mesmerizing style builds to a crescendo as she ties her memories to the life stories of more powerful individuals - the architects of modern war who have shaped our history. Susan Griffin presents some disturbingly provocative accounts of war's atrocities, the stories of bomb makers and bomb victims and the contents of once-classified government documents. Not only does she bring us face-to-face with the horrific underbelly of war and fascism, she makes us look fresh at our journey from innocent child to ruthless warmonger or war enabler. Adamant that society's gender biases continue to coerce men into the shadow of war, she challenges us to understand that not a shred of our violent past is ever forgotten, that in our conscious lives we have entered into a collective silence which erodes our ability to see truth and act responsibly. A Chorus of Stones is a profound and accessible book which infuses insight into the overwhelming moral dilemmas of our time. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Rebecca Sullivan

About this edition

• Publisher: Anchor
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 038541885X
• ISBN 13: 9780385418850
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384