Reviews

The popular conception of voodoo includes drums in the night, pincushion dolls, and magical tales of zombies and ghouls. In scholarly contrast, Blier has examined vodun-which West African residents of Togo and Benin define as the forces of powers that govern the world and the lives of all who reside there-through an exhaustive analysis of bochio, the small wooden sculptures invested with a host of attributes and powers by their makers and owners. Amply illustrated and copiously footnooted, this study provides a fascinating view of a belief systems carried to the New World by West African slaves. Written as an art historical exploration of the bochio sculptures, this book will also be a valuable research base for readers interested in religion and cultural interchange between Africa and the Americas. For academic collections.-David McClelland, Temple Univ. Lib., Philadelphia