Bruja Paperback – October 31, 2016

A very original book. Reads exactly like a dream journal, and on the surface it seems to be a collection of loosely related happenings, but when you dive deeper you are presented with a surreal picture of a person's life and psyche. The author presents us with her hopes and desires, as well as her fears. To get a complete understanding of the text, I found it helpful to look up the common dream elements explored using a dream dictionary. The glossary in the back was very helpful, but extra research is necessary to get a full grasp of the concepts therein. I would recommend this text to anyone who holds an interest in surreal art or literature. If you are into Freud and dream interpretation, than this is a great book to check out.

I was skeptical at first, of a book that has no apparent plot or clear-cut characters. But "Bruja" sucked me in. Each dream is its own black hole of possibilities and mysteries. I vacillated between trying to figure out what the dreams meant about Ortiz and marveling at her needlepoint prose. The dreams are dense, packed with human experience, emotion and imagery, yet the reader is left to decide if they actually mean anything at all. I had the feeling that I was peering into a soul, but in a different way than any fiction or nonfiction has allowed. As a "dreamoir," it is neither fiction or nonfiction, neither real or illusionary. Definitely surreal.

This one is for those who like dreams more than they hate reality. An innovative approach to memoir that sometimes suffers from this innovation. There's only so far one can go with their dreams, and this work can sometimes become sluggish as it becomes enamored with its own method. But still worthwhile.

I loved BRUJA—both the concept & the execution. I truly couldn't put this book down and even skipped a couple of appointments because I couldn't / wouldn't tear myself away. I've been sleeping with BRUJA under my pillow, perhaps in hope of inspiring my own "dreamoir.""Bruja" is the Spanish language word for "witch," but the etymology also includes an aspect of "healer." Ortiz's dreamoir mesmerizes and is a curative tonic, both.

Wendy Ortiz's dreamoir features clear language navigating the ambiguous space of dreams. Ortiz's dreams build in intensity with each layer of dreams and passing time. Her work is highly detailed as a result. Don't be scared away by the unconventional reading experience this book provides, because if navigating dreams is a topic of interest for you, it's a life changing experience

Wendy Ortiz's "Bruja" defamiliarizes the concept of narrative, using dream logic and ambiguity to cut to life's essential truths, if "truth" even exists as a stable concept (another theme the book explores). I admired and enjoyed this text, even if it did leak into and color my own dreams.

Ortiz allows readers and fellow writers alike to fall into her dreams and share our nightmares together. This read was both an exercise and an escape for me and I look forward to finding more of Ortiz's work.

Wendy C. Ortiz’s Bruja is a collection of dream vignettes that pull us into a moment of life that is often unseen, and even more so, unspoken.Each dream scene is written in language that is sharp, but not simple, as it shakes us awake to consider the implications of our own dreams. Is there more to life that what we know? What are the possibilities beyond our immediate awareness? Is there potential for hope, even in the darkest moments? When we can stave off the fears of the real world, we can journey to new places within ourselves in the dream world, awakening desire, valiance, and certainty of self.The word “bruja” means “witch” in Spanish, and this new “dreamoir” is certainly bewitching as it delves into the darkest corners of the mind to investigate what lurks there. People are mostly unnamed and given first initials only to make room for Ortiz’s self to emerge from her unconscious as unaffected archetypes: the sexualized lover, the caring mother, the old crone, and—of course—the bruja who can shapeshift into all of them.The book ultimately explores who or what is in control and presents a number of dream sequences in which Ortiz’s character is in a position of subordination to another. She’s trapped in a house with grating hosts. She’s escaping dynamite tossed onto the rooftop of her apartment. She’s wishing, longing, for a different place or people who fill in the spaces in her mind.“After the car went down the side of a short cliff, I said with extra calm in my voice, Do you want me to drive?” … “On the side of the road in the dust, we switched positions. I became the driver.”There are other moments like this one in which Ortiz maintains a centered and calm persona while confronted with risk and uncertainty. Repeatedly, she is the hero of her own dreams, rescuing children and animals and jumping into the metaphorical driver’s seat to steer the dream, and ultimately one’s life, toward resolution.Symbols are ever-present in Ortiz’s dreams, some subtle and others obvious. She writes, “The enormous ‘lucky 13’ tattoo on my left forearm was exquisitely detailed. The black was rich, and there were subtle flames and careful shading that made it jump off my skin. Still, I wasn’t certain I wanted to have that on me for life.”Like all of us, Ortiz’s dream persona questions and doubts decisions and is full of wonderment at what desire and the self will be in the future. The story reads as though it is on loop: there is no beginning and no ending, only a series of isolated moments of existence that simultaneously trap us and shape us into who we will be in our waking lives.