What do you think?
The Tarot of Perfection: A Book of Tarot Tales
A collection of wildly vivid tales of tarot, divination, imagination and desire from an award-winning author of fantasy. These stories are by turns profound, touching and outrageously funny.
For tarot practitioners, they will also open out new ways of seeing and meditating on the cards, and provide a provocative new fantasy on the origins of the familiar
For tarot practitioners, they will also open out new ways of seeing and meditating on the cards, and provide a provocative new fantasy on the origins of the familiar
209 pages, Paperback
First published October 30, 2008
About the author
Rachel Pollack
213 books380 followersRachel Grace Pollack was an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot. Pollack was a great influence on the women's spirituality movement.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 28, 2012
Rachel Pollack, a renowned tarot expert, is also a fine novelist. This book is a collection of stories that derive their inspiration from tarot spreads, an ingenious method for sparking creativity and building stories. These modern day fairy tales are rich in language and deeper meanings. Though each story can stand on its own, the real pleasure comes from seeing the way they connect to each other, pulling the perfect uber tarot deck through one story to another.
Book Pairings: Other wonderful collection of short stories that embrace folk and fairy tales and combine together to become a novel are Penny Blubaugh's Serendipity Market and Christopher Barzak's The Love We Share Without Knowing.
Book Pairings: Other wonderful collection of short stories that embrace folk and fairy tales and combine together to become a novel are Penny Blubaugh's Serendipity Market and Christopher Barzak's The Love We Share Without Knowing.
June 8, 2014
I checked this book out from the library to familiarize myself more deeply with Rachel Pollack's fiction work, having only read Unquenchable Fire some years ago, and being more familiar with her work on tarot.
In Tarot of Perfection, Pollack takes up a practice popularized by Italo Calvino but which originated in the 16th century CE as Tarocchi Appropriati: in short, telling stories using tarot cards as a constraint or guide.
This is a tight, well-crafted group of linked short stories, but for me the fireworks happened in Pollack's masterful integration of the contemporary short story form with the essence of fairy tales and midrashim.
When I hear the word archetype, I unavoidably think of moribund things, 19th century medical specimens in jars of formaldehyde or Audubon's birds, but in Pollack's hands these deep images become both very young and very old but always alive.
I finished it and felt a chill - a cliche experience, but no less true for that - akin to what I've felt reading some parables by Kafka. This is fine book, no doubt, but it also captures part of my religion.
In Tarot of Perfection, Pollack takes up a practice popularized by Italo Calvino but which originated in the 16th century CE as Tarocchi Appropriati: in short, telling stories using tarot cards as a constraint or guide.
This is a tight, well-crafted group of linked short stories, but for me the fireworks happened in Pollack's masterful integration of the contemporary short story form with the essence of fairy tales and midrashim.
When I hear the word archetype, I unavoidably think of moribund things, 19th century medical specimens in jars of formaldehyde or Audubon's birds, but in Pollack's hands these deep images become both very young and very old but always alive.
I finished it and felt a chill - a cliche experience, but no less true for that - akin to what I've felt reading some parables by Kafka. This is fine book, no doubt, but it also captures part of my religion.
January 6, 2014
A collection of 8 short stories by occultist and self proclaimed "cartomancer" Rachel Pollack. In these stories Ms. Pollack uses her many trusty decks of Tarot cards to develop her stories. I must say that I am not a believer in divination, but I do not judge a person poorly because they have beliefs in myths. I understand how beliefs in abstracts can help humans deal with the great human dilemma of death. I see no difference between a person who cast spells and someone who tries to bind a deity by saying some rehearsed prayer in a church, synagogue, mosque or temple. Nevertheless, I would have to believe that anyone who has beliefs in spiritualism or occultism would probably find deeper meaning in these stories than I have.
At first I thought that the stories seemed juvenile and then I began to realize that they are just in the form of Fairy Tales. Of course, when I think of Fairy Tales I think of childhood stories like written by the Grimm Brothers, however, like the Grimm Fairy Tales they are anything but childish. Once I settled the problem of my relation to the Fairy Tale I quite enjoyed the stories that Rachel Pollack provided. The story that seems most like a Grimm's tale was the 4th tale "The Fool, The Stick and the Princess". My personal favorite, however, was number 3 "The Girl Who Went to the Rich Neighborhood"; where we accompany a poor young girl on an idealistic trip to find substance for her family.
Take it for what it is and if you are a "cartomancer" take it for what you believe it to be. Either way I had a good time reading these stories and I think I will seek out some of her other writings and see where they will take me.
Till next time...
At first I thought that the stories seemed juvenile and then I began to realize that they are just in the form of Fairy Tales. Of course, when I think of Fairy Tales I think of childhood stories like written by the Grimm Brothers, however, like the Grimm Fairy Tales they are anything but childish. Once I settled the problem of my relation to the Fairy Tale I quite enjoyed the stories that Rachel Pollack provided. The story that seems most like a Grimm's tale was the 4th tale "The Fool, The Stick and the Princess". My personal favorite, however, was number 3 "The Girl Who Went to the Rich Neighborhood"; where we accompany a poor young girl on an idealistic trip to find substance for her family.
Take it for what it is and if you are a "cartomancer" take it for what you believe it to be. Either way I had a good time reading these stories and I think I will seek out some of her other writings and see where they will take me.
Till next time...
October 19, 2012
A wonderful book for adults who still love fairy tales. An interest in the Tarot makes it better but not necessary.
January 26, 2016
A strange and twisty tale told through 8 short stories. I enjoyed most, disliked one, but really liked the overall story.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews