Waking the Witch

April 15, 2019
Assorted musings from a modern witch. Witches are having a moment, and Grossman has played no small role in making this happen. A practicing witch herself, she is the founder of the Occult Humanities Conference at NYU, and she has been published in a variety of publications. Her personal Instagram account has 8,000 followers, and the account for her podcast, The Witch Wave, has nearly 14,000. One might expect her book to be an accessible guide to witchcraft and its most recent renaissance. It is not that, and, indeed, it's difficult to say what this book is or for whom it was written. The chapter called "Body Monsters" includes some intriguing observations about women and motherhood. However, in trying to establish a connection between historic and modern ideas about female sexuality and reproductive rights, Grossman includes much more detail about contemporary politics than is necessary to make her point. The extended exploration of witch-inspired fashion also feels like a bad fit for this section. The author's treatment of witches in recent pop culture is especially frustrating. It reads as if Grossman is unaware of the incredible wealth of material--from the scholarly essays to fan sites--devoted to subjects like Sabrina Spellman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Willow Rosenberg. An author writing for a general audience can be forgiven for not taking a deep dive into the academic literature, but Grossman doesn't offer any insight into these characters that wouldn't be obvious to a casual viewer. Overall, the text feels more like notes toward a full-length study than a finished product, and the long passages of autobiographical material reinforce this sense. Most readers will come away from the book with an understanding of why it is so appealing to Grossman but little else. An odd, uneven mix of history, cultural criticism, and memoir.

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April 22, 2019
Grossman (What Is A Witch), host of the Witch Wave podcast, analyzes archetypes, stereotypes, and characterizations of witches, real and fictional, before making the case that all women should embrace this “ultimate feminist icon” in her fun study. Grossman begins by debunking or contextualizing common beliefs about witches—such as that witches are mainly teenaged outcasts—before offering feminist analyses of an array of fictional characters, including the Wicked Witch of the West (here viewed as an independent woman in a male dominated world), and a superb section which explains the witchcraft throughout Sylvia Townsend Warner’s 1926 feminist classic Lolly Willowes. Grossman then turns to real-world accounts of witches and their antagonists, among them Abigail Williams, who ignited the Salem witch trials, and failed 2010 Delaware senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, who was ridiculed for videos in which she admitted that she “dabbled in witchcraft.” There are a few uneven memoir passages, in which Grossman writes of how she came to identify as a witch and practice witchcraft, as well as blunt political diatribes against Republicans, but these are less successful than her analyses. Nevertheless, feminist readers will be pleased by Grossman’s deconstruction of witch clichés.

Starred review from June 1, 2019

Author (What Is a Witch?), podcast host (The Witch Wave) and practicing witch, Grossman delivers a series of meditations on the nature of women's power as seen through the lens of the imagery and reputation of witches over the centuries. It's a well-known story: the male dominated church and states perpetuated the fear of witches and their uncanny powers (supposedly often gained in an unholy alliance with the devil) to justify the persecution, objectification, and diminishment of women throughout history. But Grossman is not dependent on tropes, ultimately weaving a celebration of witches and everyday individuals whose independence and self-possession fuel their resistance and rebellion against the long-standing social contract of female disempowerment. A rich and unique mix of historical events, literary references, and contemporary popular media inform keen observations on how we have arrived at a place in which feminism and witchcraft find a cultural convergence. VERDICT Reminiscent of Sarah Vowell's work and equally affecting, this intellectually satisfying, personally liberating, and remarkably humorous classic is recommended for readers of women's history, paganism, witchcraft, and feminism.--Janet Tapper, Univ. of Western States Lib., Portland, OR

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2019
Author Grossman weaves pop culture together with an age-old craft for a fun, informative glimpse of witchcraft. Readers learn interesting facts ranging from the history of Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch, who first appeared in 1962, to the intersection of art and witchcraft, to references to witchcraft in the style and themes of Lady Gaga and Beyonc�. Waking the Witch reflects Grossman's ability to cast her spell with memoir, storytelling, journalism, and history. She utilizes all of her experience, which include extensive publication in popular media, as well as other media formats (she has a popular podcast called The Witch Wave and she created WitchEmoji, an online sticker pack). She has a background lecturing on art and the occult, and is experienced in the business world with her corporate branding work. Feminists will appreciate Grossman's in-depth, woman-focused history and analysis. She observes ways women's history and contemporary reality are intertwined with references to witchcraft, the occult, myth, and a multitude of female archetypes. Waking the Witch is a must-add for public and academic collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)