The Orgy: An Irish Journey of Passion and Transformation

by Muriel Rukeyser, Sharon Olds (Contributor)

Those who have traveled know the experience of extended time and sharpened perception. Muriel Rukeyser’s account of Ireland's Puck Fair, the last existing pagan festival of the goat, captures just that state of consciousness. Set in County Kerry, Ireland, The Orgy evokes this great American poet’s journey of sensual and psychological transformation in the midst of a lush account of Irish culture and tradition.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ireland

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Muriel Rukeyser was an American poet and political activist, best known for her poems about equality, feminism, social justice, and Judaism. Kenneth Rexroth said that she was the greatest poet of her "exact generation".

One of her most powerful pieces was a group of poems entitled The Book of the Dead (1938), documenting the details of the Hawk's Nest incident, an industrial disaster in which hundreds of miners died of silicosis.

Her poem "To be a Jew in the Twentieth Century" (1944), on the theme of Judaism as a gift, was adopted by the American Reform and Reconstructionist movements for their prayer books, something Rukeyser said "astonished" her, as she had remained distant from Judaism throughout her early life.

Reviews

[Eileen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. I only read it because it was set in Ireland but really even on that account it was disappointing. Must be an experiment in literature from the 1970s when it was the in thing to break all the rules including making sense. (And there was no sex in it either.)

[Lizzie]

On my shelf, maybe my father-in-law or mother-in -law's book. Book is person's account of going to Puck Festival in Ireland. All minor details logged. Not for me.

[Paris Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.parispress.org/shop/the-orgy

Those who have traveled know the experience of extended time and sharpened perception. Muriel Rukeyser's account of Puck Fair — the last existing pagan festival of the goat — captures just that state of consciousness. Set in County Kerry, Ireland, The Orgy evokes this great American poet's journey of sensual and psychological transformation in the midst of a lush account of Irish culture and tradition.