Field Guide to Luck: How to Use and Interpret Charms, Signs, and Superstitions - Softcover

Yablon, Alys R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1594742170 ISBN 13: 9781594742170

Publisher: Quirk Books, 2008

Synopsis

Everyone knows that rubbing a rabbit's foot will bring good luck—but did you know this superstition was introduced to the United States by slaves from West Africa? Field Guide to Luck features the fascinating origins of the most popular charms and signs—everything from crossed fingers and full moons to four-leaf clovers and Friday the thirteenth. Each entry features information about the origins and cultural context of the superstition, with plenty of interesting trivia along the way. (For the record, Chinese fortune cookies were invented in San Francisco!)

Also included are dozens of talismans and symbols from around the world, including cows (India), money cats (Japan), akuaba dolls (Ghana), jade (China), and more. Best of all, Field Guide to Luck showcases many of these lucky charms with 48 pages of full-color illustrations—so you'll be sure to recognize them wherever you encounter them!

About this title

About the Author

Alys R. Yablon is a freelance writer and editor who collaborated with Deepak Chopra on Ask the Kabala Oracle Cards.

Reviews

Adult/High School—A compact trim size, alphabetical organization, and short entries make this guide appealing and easy to use. Each of the 94 entries includes a general description, origins, variations, practice, and cultural context, as well as one to three related superstitions to send readers on a sort of choose-your-own-adventure experience. Topics range from the familiar (black cat, fortune cookie, wishbone) to the more exotic (evil eye, maneki neko, yantra), and each entry has examples drawn from movies, television, and music, most of which will be known to teens. Seventy of the entries are also illustrated in a center section of color plates; the lurid colors of the computer-generated collage images may appeal to some (or may end up snipped out of the book). Although there are 16 books and articles and 30 Web sites listed in the sources, there are no footnotes or endnotes, so Yablon's assertions are difficult to back up. However, as a starting point or as a bit of fun, casual readers should find this book enjoyable.—Jenny Gasset, Orange County Public Library, CA
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Edition details

• Publisher: Quirk Books
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1594742170
• ISBN 13: 9781594742170
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304