Waking the Witch by Pam Grossman, review by Shelly Walston

Pam Grossman's Waking the Witch is an all-in examination of pop culture, history, and literature in their connections to women of ill-repute: witches. And it's glorious. 

Since 2017 Grossman has hosted The Witch Wave, a podcast "where Art is Magick, Magick is Real, and Reality is Stranger than Dreams." Her guests include tattoo artists, dominatrices, tarot readers and designers, spell collectors, and folks adjacent to the witchy world. This book, Waking the Witch, builds ten-fold on the interviews Grossman has become so well-known for. While it's not requisite that you listen to the podcast to fully understand the book, your reading will only be made richer if you let the two resonate simultaneously.

For those who grew up loving Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reading Harry Potter and seeing themselves in Hermione, and wanting to fully embrace their "darker" side (though not in a negative way), this book is ideal. Grossman delicately weaves histories of the first witch "identification" texts with pop culture in an effort to reveal the ways in which we've always been fascinated with those on the outskirts, be they midwives, healers, or simply misunderstood. Grossman's writing is fresh, her insights poignant, and her pacing is practiced - it flies like a broomstick in the night sky. 

Staff Pick Badge
Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power By Pam Grossman Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781982100704
Availability: Hard to Find. This book may be unable to order.
Published: Gallery Books - June 4th, 2019