Neil Philip

As a child I was obsessed with mythology, and that carried on into my teenager years. I still actually really enjoy learning about new myths and I can rattle off a good portion of Greek and Egyptian gods. I aim on reading as much as I can about Norse mythology (eventually…I have a few books I can read in my possession already). But what this book did for me and my interest in mythology is reignite it as an adult.
This book is tiny and fits in the palm of your hand, but don’t be fooled – it’s a sizeable book. Myth in Minutes really does what it claims in the title – the aim of the book is to give you a two minute read on each page about different myths from around the world, centring on different parts of the world. It goes through every continent and every major mythological ecosystem from that continent, but also introduces other minor stories that most people might not have heard of before. I know that I didn’t know as much about African and Asian mythology before I read this book.
One of the best parts about this book are the beautiful photographs that accompany each page of the book. Some pottery art, wall inscriptions, paintings, this book has it all to help you imagine and contextualize the stories that it tells you.
Honestly, I don’t have much else to say about this book, but I do highly recommend it if you’re interested in learning about myths from all over the world. It’s a quick read and also makes a brilliant coffee table book that you can have in your home or in your office if you have one of those fancy waiting rooms.
… (més)

"Native American voices spanning a hundred years present a collective sense of childhood and a scope of individual experience. Similar in format to Philip’s Earth Always Endures: Native American Poems (1996) and In a Sacred Manner I Live: Native American Wisdom (1997), this collection speaks more closely to a young audience in its subject matter. From the words of Charles A. Eastman and Sarah Winnemuca to the more contemporary voices of Louis Two Ravens Irwin and James Sewid, the narratives describe aspects of childhood life in many tribes. Subjects range from playing house and playing war to having hair cut at a boarding school and being buried alive in order to hide from white men. Like the previous collections, this is illustrated with archival photographs, printed in duotone, that are evocative, but overly romantic in tone. The fact that the experiences were recorded, in word or picture, almost entirely in the late-19th and early-20th centuries gives an overall sense of distance and of “The-Indian-of-the-Past” to this collection, although readers may find the narratives themselves immediate. Philip gives both English and actual names of people and tribes after each selection, as well as sources for all pictures and texts at the end of the volume. A bibliography of further reading and indexes of speakers, writers, and Indian nations enhance the collection. Wonderful words in a museum-quality package, readers may find their way slowly to this book, but they should find the trip worthwhile. (introduction, indexes, further reading, source notes)"… (més)