The Song of Songs is one of the most intriguing and perplexing parts of the Bible. It has been treated as pure allegory and as pure eroticism. In this updating of her dissertation, Black (religious studies, Mt. Allison University) takes a literal look at the terms the lovers use to describe each other's bodies. She begins by pointing out that having hair like sheep and a neck like a tower does not immediately convey an idea of beauty, but of the grotesque. She then reviews other uses of the grotesque in art and literature, especially in Rabelais. Having established a base, she returns to the use of the grotesque in the images of the Song. In her analysis, Black makes it clear that she does not think that hers is the only way to read the Song, nor that her interpretation is what the writer intended. She studies the rich and bizarre imagery in order to understand conceptions of the body in a very modern sense, as exemplified by Barthe and Cristeva. In a style that has its own poetry, Black integrates the Song of Songs into a literary world of symbolism and passion. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)