Exquisite Desire
Erotics, Ecology, and the Song of Songs, Updated Edition
- Biblical Studies & Commentaries
- Publisher: Fortress Press (Augsburg Fortress)
- Published: 2027
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Publisher's Description
In this provocative study of the Song of Songs, Carey Ellen Walsh investigates desire and its connections to our experiences of the world and the divine. In the erotic language arrayed throughout the Song's poetry, Walsh finds a scriptural text that celebrates human passion through bold images of hunger, intoxication, and the plants and animals of nature. Drawing from theories of gender, ecology, and Womanism, among others, Walsh offers a celebration of desire's importance within both human life and sacred scripture.
Endorsements (5)
“This is a singular and evocative book, combining erudition with real verve and even (dare we say it?) passion! Transgressive in all the best ways, Walsh tramples the staid doldrums of academic prose with writing that is animated and alluring, daring to imagine that scholarship might change how we see ourselves, creation, and one another. Exquisite Desire makes the Bible seductive and seduction spiritual.”
“This book is passionate about passion. And nowhere is passion or desire more pronounced than in the Song of Songs. Walsh’s delicate and far-reaching explorations of desire—its sexual and spiritual dimensions—in the Song and throughout the Bible shine a bright light on this “force of life” that is essential to the human condition.”
“A courageous book on an outrageous book, the most unbiblical of biblical books. Elegantly and engagingly written, Walsh’s exegetical explorations amount to a profound theology of desire, one that merges with ecotheology in this updated edition. Required reading for all lovers, or would-be lovers, of the Song!”
“We need this “pro-desire” book. Carey Walsh reads the Song of Songs as biblical poetry nurturing our souls. She also encourages us to follow this biblical poetry’s advice: Commune with gazelles, foxes, lions, and doves! Taste the fruit and plants of the field in your gardens and meadows! Reconnect with the freedom and beauty of creation! Walsh reminds us to listen to the Song’s musical poetry of desire for life and its offerings, all coming from the “source of existence” itself. If you are ready to move into the mystical waters of reading the Song as desire for God, then Walsh’s delightful exposition on the Song of Songs is for you.”
“Like the Song of Songs itself, Carey Walsh’s Exquisite Desire is a delight to read, full of lush descriptions and unexpected insights. Through her study of the Song, Walsh also explores the human condition: love, sex, pleasure, death, and what it means to be a creature in this ecologically exuberant world.”
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