Booknote: The Book of Divination

Ann Fiery, The Book of Divination. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 1999.  ISBN: 0-8118-1618-4.

Genre: nonfiction
Subgenre: art, divination, history
Format: coffee table book
Source: Borrowed from Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library

This is a coffee table book on the topic of divination. The  book is organized as follows:

• Introduction
• 15 chapters, one for each divination practice presented  in the book
• A bibliography, plus picture credits and acknowledgements

The book does offer a variety of topics ranging from well known forms of divination such as astrology, numerology, and Tarot as well as lesser known or mostly extinct forms such as metoposcopy (reading lines on the forehead), phrenology, and haruspicy (reading animal entrails). The length and quality of content varies. Some entries are larger and better developed than others. Astrology, for example, gets about 40 pages of content. Haruspicy gets two pages. On the text, the author writes:

"This book is no more than a dabble in the deep waters of Western divination. I have tried to give a sense of the traditions of each of the systems I discuss, but all of them (with the possible exception of haruspicy) would repay further investigation" (9).

That is another thing: the book only focuses on Western divination, no Oriental/Eastern methods in this volume. While I get this is a "dabble," the dabbling is often very uneven. The author also provides instructions as possible if you want to try a method. However, the author is also intensely opinionated, which can be an issue. On this, the author writes:

"I am not demure about my opinions; you will undoubtedly notice that I approve of some interpretations and developments more than others" (9).

That bias likely helps explain the very uneven treatment of subjects in the book. Opinion can be good; however, when this author disdains something she does so aggressively. Plus, at times, to be perfectly honest, she can come across as overly prescriptive and even a bit snobbish. A little less personal opinion and a little more neutrality may have worked better for this book.

A strength of the book is in the illustrations. The author includes plenty of photos, charts, engravings, and other historical illustrations. The illustrations were a reason for me to pick up the book. They do enhance the book.

Overall, this is more of a book to browse than to read cover to  cover. In the end, I did like most of it. Still, I'd say borrow it rather than buy it if you must.

3 out of 5 stars