SOURCE: Jaskoski, Helen. Review of Baptism of Desire. SAIL: Studies in American Indian Literatures, 2d ser., 3, no. 4 (winter 1991): 55-7.

In the following review, Jaskoski discusses Erdrich's second volume of poetry.

In Catholic doctrine, Baptism of Desire has a rather technical meaning: a person who is unable to manage conventional baptism of water can, by earnestly and truly wanting to be baptised, gain the benefits of the sacrament, i.e., entry into the church and eligibility for heaven. Longing and will may serve where form and ritual are impossible. In Louise Erdrich's latest collection of poems the technical meaning of longing to be baptised in the Catholic Church is rather a jumping-off point than a core metaphor. Again and again the poems return to Catholic tradition and terminology—not out of unquestioning acceptance, but to explore the legacy of this religion's impossible requirements and extravagant promises. The reader will...