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

One of the most fact filled books I have read on the REDHEAD topic.Being a redhead myself I love learing about my strands of copper.

Marion Roach, NPR correspondent, is a redhead, and aims to get to the bottom of redhead mythology in our culture. She discusses the oldest famous redheads, like Lilith (Adam's pre-Eve wife in the bible), Set, and Mary Magdalene. She also gets into the genetics of red hair, and explains why it's rare. She also discusses the historical attributes associated with red hair through time. It was formerly thought that Jews were redheads, and later, that redheads were not to be trusted. More currently, red hair is associated with sexual prowess and a hot temper. This book is a fun and intellectually satisfying read, especially for redheads.

I'm a brunette, but I bought this book for the redheads on my gift list and ended up reading it, myself. It's a lovely mix of poetic personal tales and the science of genetics written in a way that's easy to understand. By the way, my three redhead friends just loved it and ended up buying it for their redheaded relatives. Sure it's got sex in it - read the title. If that is going to offend you, don't read it.

Reading this book made me see red! Not out of anger but desire, specifically the desire to take the book to my hairdresser, point to the gorgeous cover of red curls and say, "The redder the better for me, thanks!" Love the section headings - sinners, science and sex. Love the clever subheadings - my favorite is the one for Chapter Four under Science: "A Monk, Two Very Different Victorians, and the Knockout Mouse or How We Were Delivered the Genetics of Hair Color." And in that subheading lies the beating red heart of what I really love about the book - the author's love of language. The fun she has with it, how she magnifies its allure, celebrates its danger, revels in its power as a tool of discovery. Yes, this book is a mad dash through a forest of redheaded demons, devils, dangers and desires. A wild romp that took the author - with the reader now along - from continent to continent and through a head-spinning number of fields. A crazy, creative and comprehensive look at all the redheaded threads woven through history. But even more, it's a joyride with one hot mama who loves to write.

I loved Roots of Desire. Roach's erudition and elegance are delightful. Emily Dickinson alone is worth the price of admission. This is an idiosyncratic book, however, never what I expected, always more. I would rank it with The Botany of Desire as a lesson in how to write an extended essay that interweaves the personal experience with science, history and sociological insights. Roach is a powerfully gifted and mature writer.