de book of Joseph: A Performance Poem

de book of Joseph, the third book in Mordecai's epic trilogy about the lives of Jesus, his mother, Mary and his foster father, the tekton of Nazareth, is a dazzling retelling in Jamaican Creole of the story of Joseph's early life, his marriage to his first wife, his magical meeting with Mary, and his role in the birth and raising of Jesus. Mordecai employs the demotic to create a cast of spirited characters who surround a down-to-earth Jesus, Mary and Joseph as they contend with the intrigue surrounding Herod's determination to assassinate the infant king of the Jews, the family's escape into Egypt as refugees, and the trials they face on their return. At once humorous and tragic, playful and sober, this luminous tale of how Joseph and his families prevail over life's vicissitudes will reward endless rereading.Praise for de book of Mary:"Mordecai's verses hew to gospel truths but also respect both the poet's Jewish heritage of scepticism and her roots in Jamaica's Afro-spiritual-accented and ganja-scented Christianity."-George Elliot Clarke, The Chronicle Herald"de Book of Mary is both a salute to [Jamaica's] colourful patois that [the poet] so loves and a fresh spin on age-old, Bible-based lore."-Tallawah Magazine"[T]his is an imaginative take on a familiar story." - Herizons"Mordecai re(claims) and re-centres the story of Maiden Mary, triumphantly transposing it from the word of men to the stories of women, and from High Church language to everyday speech. As did Derek Walcott before her, she performs the legacy of Caribbean creolization; a muscular hybrid which claims the right equally to the ancient forms of Greek theatre, the traditional practices of Judaism, and the beauty of Caribbean vernaculars and sensibilities. A lovely, chewy book."-Nalo Hopkinson, author of The Salt Roads"de book of Mary has one awestruck. From her Brechtian opening, in suitably Dantesque tercets chock with lovely lines, Mordecai's creolized English gives her tale a locale, a rhythm, and deeply felt characters to anchor its astonishing balance of the holy and the profane, the sacred and the quotidian."-Timothy J. Reiss, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature, New York University"A rare and dazzling look at her world and ours by one of the most mysterious women of all time."-Rachel Manley, author ofDrumblair: Memories of a Jamaican Childhood"de book of Mary is a perfect example of how powerful, striking stories will always, in every place and era, find exactly the right person to re-tell them. The poet Pamela Mordecai has found a new way with the Good News-de book of Mary is a page-turner-pure energy released through pure poetry." - JonArno Lawson, author of Sidewalk Flowers