New in April, 2009 The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive
Oatman (University of Nebraska Press), a biography of a 19th-century Mormon pioneer who became a celebrity after she
was captured, raised, and tattooed by Southwest Indians, then
ransomed back five years later.
Elmore Leonard calls it “a winner.”
Read the prologue here.
The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman (University of Nebraska Press, 2009) > order now
The first modern biography of Olive Oatman, a white captive who was raised by Mohave Indians in the 1850s.
“Margot Mifflin has written a winner… The Blue Tattoo offers quite intense drama along with thorough scholarship.”
- Elmore Leonard
“Lucid and Engaging. The Blue Tattoo contextualizes Olive Oatman’s life by delving into Mohave culture and history…and by explaining why her story captured the American popular imagination…”
- Kathryn Zabelle Derounian-Stodola
Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo (Powerhouse Books, 1997, 2001)>
order now
Chronicles the history of women and tattoo in Western society from the early 1880s to the present.
“In this provocative work full of intriguing female characters from tattoo history, Margot Mifflin makes a persuasive case for the tattooed woman as an emblem of female self-expression.”
- Susan Faludi
“…Essential reading for anyone interested in the subject.”
- Ed Hardy
“…Insightfully chronicles the saga of skin as signage…”
- Barbara Kruger