The Intent On: Real American Poetry

From the redwood-topped hills of Berkeley, California to the air of New Jersey, oppressive with rain, from the taste of potato skins fragrant with the soil of Idaho to the blazing white Sangre de Christos mountains of New Mexico, the images conjured in The Intent On by Kenneth Irby are as varied and powerful as the American landscape. In the second addition to North Atlantic Books’ series on unheralded yet significant figures in American literature and poetry, The Intent On collects and celebrates the work of Kenneth Irby, with his poems gathered together for the first time in one text. Irby experiments with poetic structure in his work, deliberately and precisely peppering sound with silence.

With America as the backdrop, he cements melodic picturesque with relentless calamity. Irby calls writers such as Robert Duncan, Ed Dorn, and Robert Creeley close colleagues and is associated with the Black Mountain poets as well as the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E group. Irby’s voice is clear and complex, as well as geographical and psychological as he maps a phenomenological landscape that is all his own.

From The Intent On:

January 1965, Looking On

Moss in the gratings
of a sewer vent

And past me have gone
a lady cop in a yellow slicker
ticketing in the rain
and those who have come in and out
after books

There is no image the flesh
does not take in, sink, the hook, there is
a weight beyond me all afternoon, into the drizzle
uncertainties of
how to look

A man comes in selling ballpoint pens
“I won’t be back to bother you for a long time, not till April–
I’ll let you have all three for 75¢ –they all write”

And in the dust on the floor of that used-book store?
So seared, the scars he must have had so long
any look back at him
is not even felt?

Moss
on the sewer plates

And on Clement Street
leads straight to the Pacific
men dead on their feet
come–back? home? down hard–
to die. The clod prim slickered copess

And there is no footprint
no print in the moss
the wet, sopped weeks of rain
does not take out of men, bodies
the bodies sopped
staining the filthy concrete

The rancors or texts and elucidations

And the quiet light down on the dust, in the windows, in this store

My God, my hands stuffed in my dirty pockets

– 11 Jan 1965

New Books Just in Time for the Holidays

The holidays are fast approaching and it is time to start thinking about gift giving (and receiving). With every topic covered from the Mayan calendar to metaphysics, Buddhism to health and healing, North Atlantic Books has the perfect book to match your loved ones’ interests, and some you’ll want to add to your own holiday wish list. You’ll find something for everyone among our newest titles this season.

To order, please visit www.northatlanticbooks.com.

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The Cracking Tower: A Strategy for Transcending 2012
by Jim DeKorne

With the end of the legendary Mayan “long count” calendar looming on December 21, 2012 and recent threats of a worldwide economic collapse triggering widespread apprehension and a search for answers, The Cracking Tower offers an arsenal of strategies to turn these fears into an opportunity for spiritual and personal growth. Shaping the discussion is the fascinating metaphor of the cracking tower, an apparatus for distilling gasoline, as a vehicle for distilling our awareness. Rather than speculating on what might occur in 2012, DeKorne proposes vigilance of a more introspective sort. “The important thing,” he says, “is to ignore the finger and strive to comprehend the moon,” to see what our apocalyptic tendencies reveal about ourselves.

$16.95 US/ $21.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-816-5
232 pages, 6 x 9
On Sale November 3, 2009

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Uncommon Happiness: The Path of the Compassionate Warrior
by Rinpoche Dzigar Kongtrul

From 2005 to 2007, Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche gave classes on Shantideva’s The Way of the Boddhisattva. His commentaries revealed such a deep understanding that Marcia Binder Schmidt decided to collect them for other students of Buddhism as an independent work. This book is the result. Kongtrül Rinpoche examines different aspects of Shantideva’s text, always relating the teachings to individual experience. He explores the training of the four immeasurables—equanimity, loving kindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy—and discusses the importance of wholehearted engagement in the process. In the words of the editor, “Dharma needs to be trained in, integrated into our lives, and embraced by wisdom.” Uncommon Happiness contains the guidance to undergo that training with the right attitude of clarity and commitment.

$16.95 US/ $19.95 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-962-7341-63-5
192 pages, 5-1/2 x 8-1/2
On Sale November 10, 2009

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Rhythm and Touch: The Fundamentals of Craniosacral Therapy
by Anthony P. Arnold, PH.D.

With its low-impact, nurturing approach to working with the spine, the skull, the diaphragm, and the fascia to release pain in the body, Craniosacral Therapy has become an increasingly popular healing method. Rhythm and Touch explains in detail how it works, following a simple, step-by-step instructional model. Part one guides the practitioner in discovering the craniosacral rhythm and learning how to interpret and respond to its cues. Part two offers a thorough review of the brain’s protective and nourishing environment, the cranium. This section describes the bones of the mouth and face, their interrelationship and motions, and how to assess and release the results of injury. The final chapter offers reflections and recommendations for using this vast array of knowledge effectively.

$27.95 US/ $34.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-819-6
280 pages, 7 x 9-1/4
On Sale November 17, 2009

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Meditations on Nature, Meditations on Silence
Edited by Roderick MacIver

Meditations on Nature, Meditations on Silence is a collection of hundreds of quotes on the beauty and mystery of the natural world by writers and thinkers, including Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Edward Abbey, Rainer Maria Rilke, Henry David Thoreau, Louise Dickinson Rich, and Lewis Thomas. Through their inspirational poetry and other writings and Rod MacIver’s beautiful watercolors, Meditations on Nature, Meditations on Silence offers readers a retreat from our complex, fast-paced world. This book explores the beauty, strange cohesion, and complexity of the natural world and universe, drawing on sources as diverse as ancient Chinese poets, contemporary songwriters, wilderness adventurers, homesteaders, and modern scientists.

$16.95 US/ $21.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-916-2
96 pages, 8-1/2 x 8-1/2
On Sale November 18, 2009

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Where Pharaohs Dwell: One Mystic’s Journey Through the Gates of Immortality
by Patricia Cori

In this thought-provoking book, Patricia Cori focuses on her past-life experiences in ancient Egypt. The book begins with the traumatic recall of a past Egyptian life, when Cori relives a horrifying death by suffocation—from being buried alive. This experience propels her on a journey of exploration into the question of human immortality, leading her back to Egypt where she unravels the origins of the ancient Egyptians’ obsession with the resurrection of the soul. This exciting book weaves strands of science, history, and metaphysics into a shimmering tapestry of personal discovery.

$16.95 US/ $21.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-830-1
264 pages, 6 x 9
On Sale November 24, 2009

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The Circle of Fire: The Metaphysics of Yoga
by P.J. Mazumdar

The Circle of Fire examines the eternal metaphysical questions “What is God?” and “What is the purpose of life?” The book discusses the answers to these questions given by Western science and different schools of Indian thought, specifically detailing the answers to be found in India’s two most developed atheistic traditions, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Representative of a generation of Indians who have grown up with the best in scientific education and spiritual values, author P.J. Mazumdar takes a hard look at religion, science, and how two seemingly divergent bodies of knowledge can be brought together. Acknowledging the metaphysical insights to be found in both Western science and Eastern spirituality, Mazumdar pays special attention to the highest school of philosophy of Hinduism, Advaita, and its application to practical spirituality through the teachings and practice of Yoga.

$22.95 US/ $27.95 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-670-3
400 pages, 6 x 9
On Sale November 30, 2009

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The Intent On
by Kenneth Irby

Kenneth Irby has practiced his craft at the center of the American poetry scene for decades. An associate of the legendary Black Mountain poets, he was a close colleague of writers such as Robert Duncan, Ed Dorn, and Robert Creeley. This comprehensive collection marks the first time the full range of Irby’s artistry has been presented in one place.

Irby’s early career, starting in the 1960s, paralleled the late Beat era and the counterculture, and his blend of innovative wordplay with personal and political themes made him an important voice of that era. At the same time, he was able to forge his own path, conjuring a style that was both universal and distinctly American. Critics and other poets especially have noted his avant-garde use of sound, silence, and unusual sentence structure to seduce readers.

$40.00 US/ $49.00 CAN
Hardcover
978-1-55643-833-2
704 pages, 6-3/4 x 9-1/4
On Sale December 1, 2009

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Ortho-Bionomy: A Path to Self-Care
by Luann Overmyer

Ortho-Bionomy is based on the premise that the body inherently knows how to heal and self-correct, given the opportunity. This user-friendly guide by one of the pioneers of the approach presents positions, postures, and movements designed to release tension and ease pain. Positions for each part of the body are clearly described in lay terms and illustrated with photos and drawings. Quick fixes for sciatica, suggestions for dealing with menstrual cramps, and exercises to address posture, scoliosis, and flexibility of the spine are just a few among 150 techniques described. The book also includes simple exercises to increase ease, function, strength, and flexibility once the pain has subsided. Rounded out with human-interest stories and client examples, this accessible work can be used quickly and effectively by anyone with pain.

$26.95 US/ $33.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-791-5
344 pages, 8 x 10
On Sale December 15, 2009

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Heart Lamp: The Heart of the Matter and Lamp of Mahamudra
by Tsele Natsok Rangdrol

Tsele Natsok Rangdröl is renowned in the Kagyü and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism for his brilliant scholarship, profound exposition, and meditative accomplishment. This collection presents four essential Buddhist strands of philosophical viewpoint and meditation technique: the teachings of the Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) body of literature; the philosophy of the Middle Way; Mahamudra meditation; and Dzogchen teachings and practice. The focus is on how to realize that essence through “effortless” training based on the four techniques. Since the training is unbound by cultural or temporal limitations, the truth the book conveys is as valuable today as it was in centuries past.

$17.95 US/ $21.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-962-7341-60-4
224 pages, 5-1/2 x 8-1/2
On Sale December 15, 2009

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Art as a Way of Life
by Roderick MacIver

Filled with elegant watercolors and inspirational prose, Art as a Way of Life offers reflections on art and creativity, empowering us to discover and nurture the creative spirit within. It is an encouraging book for people wanting to live, work, and love in the creative spirit.

A wide range of creative innovators, including Carl Rogers, Robert Henri, Tom Jay, Henry David Thoreau, Ansel Adams, and Vincent van Gogh, contribute poignant and moving thoughts, quotes, sayings, interviews, and poems on the beauty of love and art. Through these contemporary and past theorists, musicians, artists, writers, and poets, Art as a Way of Life explores what it is to be passionate, inspired, and blissful.

$16.95 US/ $21.00 CAN
Trade Paperback
978-1-55643-920-9
96 pages, 8-1/2 x 8-1/2
On Sale December 15, 2009

Rob Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology for December 2009

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
December
© Copyright 2009 Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): When Carolee Schneeman was a kid, her extravagant adoration of nature earned her the nickname “mad pantheist.” Later, during her career as a visual artist, she described her relationship with the world this way: “I assume the senses crave sources of maximum information, that the eye benefits by exercise, stretch, and expansion towards materials of complexity and substance.” I hope that you’re attracted to that perspective right now, Aries. To be in most productive alignment with the cosmic rhythms, you should be in a state of nearly ecstatic openness, hungry to be stretched — like a mad pantheist.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Dear Rob: Last night my son and I were star-gazing. When we focused on the constellation Cassiopeia, an owl started hooting. Then a brilliant shooting star zipped by as a huge bat flew right over our heads. Was this a bad omen? Bats are creepy — associated with vampires. And in Greek mythology Cassiopeia got divine punishment because she bragged that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the sea god’s daughters. But I don’t know, maybe this blast of odd events was a good omen. Owls are symbols of wisdom and shooting stars are lucky, right? What do you think? Are we blessed or cursed? -Spooked Taurus.” Dear Spooked: The question of whether it’s good or bad luck is irrelevant. Here’s what’s important: You Tauruses are in a phase when the hidden workings of things will be shown to you — the mysterious magic that’s always bubbling below the surface but that is usually not visible.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The weeks ahead will be a ripe time to pull off magic reversals. May I suggest that you try to transform dishwater greys into sparkling golds? Or how about recycling the dead energy of a lost cause in such a way as to generate raw fuel for a fresh start? I’m confident, Gemini, that you’ll be able to discover treasure hidden in the trash, and that you’ll find a way to unleash the creative zeal that has been trapped inside polite numbness. Now ponder this riddle, please: Do you think there’s any mystical significance in the fact that the word “stressed” is “desserts” spelled backwards?

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Lately you remind me of the person Robert Hass describes in his poem “Time and Materials”: “someone falling down and getting up and running and falling and getting up.” I’m sending you my compassion for the times you fall down, and my admiration for the times you get up, and my excitement for the times you run. It has probably become clear to you by now that the falling down isn’t a shameful thing to be cursed, but rather is an instrumental part of the learning process that is teaching you marvelous secrets about getting back up and running.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “I burn for no reason, like a lantern in daylight,” writes poet Joseph Lease. I think that’s a succinct formulation of one of your central issues, Leo. Burning for no reason, like a lantern in the daylight, can be the cause of either failure or success for you, depending on subtle differences of emphasis. This is how it can be failure: When you’re mindlessly and wastefully burning through your prodigious reserves of fuel without any concern for the benefits it may provide you and others. This is how it can be success: When you are exuberant and self-disciplined in shining your light and radiating your warmth just because it feels so good and so right and so healthy, and without any thought about whether it’s “useful” to anyone.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In one of his short poems, John Averill (twitter.com/wiremesa) describes a scene that I think captures the essence of your current astrological omens: “Today is the day of the photo of moonrise over Havana in a book on a shelf in the snowbound cabin.” Here’s a clue about what it means: The snowbound cabin is where you are right now in your life. The moonrise over Havana is where you could be early in 2010. How do you get there from here?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): An estuary is a bay where the salt water of a sea mixes with the fresh water of rivers. These days you remind me of such a place. You are two-toned, Libra. You’re dual-purpose and double-tracked. You’re a hybrid blend of the yes and the no, the give and the take, the extravagant and the traditional. And somehow this has been working out pretty well for you. You’re not so much a dysfunctional contradiction as an interesting juxtaposition. You’re not being crushed by a squeeze of opposites so much as you’re getting massaged by the oscillating throbs of complementary influences. Keep doing what you’ve been doing, only more so.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Big shiny egos with flashy tricks may be mucking around in everyone’s business, calling narcissistic attention to themselves as they pretend to do noble deeds. Meanwhile, I hope you’ll be doing the hard, detailed work that must be done to serve the greater good — quietly and unpretentiously improving people’s lives without demanding major tribute. That approach will stir up some sleek, silky karma that will come in handy when you undertake the building of your masterpiece in 2010.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Dear Rob: I love to be proven wrong. That’s not an ironic statement. I actually get excited and feel creative when I acquire new information that shows me I’ve been operating under a misunderstanding. One of my very favorite life moments occurs when I am convincingly liberated from a negative opinion I’ve been harboring about someone. As you can tell, I’m quite proud of this quality. The way I see it, emotional wealth and psychological health involve having so much self-respect that I don’t need to be right all the time. -Sagittarian Freedom Fighter.” Dear Freedom Fighter: Thanks for your testimony. The capacity you described is one that many Sagittarians will be poised to expand in 2010. And this is an excellent time for them to start getting the hang of it.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In an early version of the tale of Pinocchio, friendly woodpeckers chiseled his nose back to its original size after it had grown enormous from his incorrigible lying. From a metaphorical perspective, Capricorn, a comparable development may soon occur in your own life. A benevolent (if somewhat rough) intervention akin to the woodpeckers’ assistance will shrink an overgrown, top-heavy part of your attitude, allowing you to proceed to the next chapter of your story with streamlined grace.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “There is light enough for those who wish to see,” wrote French philosopher Blaise Pascal, “and darkness enough for those of the opposite disposition.” I’m hoping you will align yourself with the first group in the coming weeks, Aquarius. More than ever before, what you choose to focus on will come rushing in to meet you, touch you, teach you, and prompt you to respond. Even if all the smart people you know seem to be drunk on the darkness, I encourage you to be a brave rebel who insists on equal time for the light.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): White dwarfs are small and extremely dense stars. They’re typically no bigger than the Earth but as heavy as the sun. You currently have a resemblance to one of those concentrated balls of pure intensity. I have rarely seen you offering so much bang for the buck. You are as flavorful as chocolate mousse, as piercing as the scent of eucalyptus, as lustrous as a fireworks display on a moonless night. Personally, I’m quite attracted to your saucy and zesty emanations, and I think most people with strong egos will be. But some underachievers with lower self-esteem may regard you as being more like astringent medicine. My advice: Gravitate toward those who like you to be powerful.

Homework: Go to YouTube and watch me give some pep talks and crazed lectures. Start here: http://tinyurl.com/lyr99n

CLICK HERE to learn more about Rob Brezsny’s “Free Will Astrology.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe to Rob Brezsny’s newsletter.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Rob Brezsny’s book, Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia, Revised and Expanded.

Outstanding New Books Available in July

Don’t fret that summer seems to be quickly passing and no foreseeable opportunity for R&R exists. Instead, feed your inner desire for a fun, creative hobby, a spiritual journey, and a healthy lifestyle with these new titles for July. Whether you want to try a new recipe for a guest-pleasing dish, seek a peaceful meditation practice, or take a first step into the philosophy of alchemy, you will find that perfect book to top your summer reading list.

To order, please visit www.northatlanticbooks.com
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Isaac Newton and the Transmutation of Alchemy: An Alternative View of the Scientific Revolution
By Philip Ashley Fanning

Isaac Newton was a dedicated alchemist, a fact usually obscured as unsuited to his stature as a leader of the scientific revolution. In Isaac Newton and the Transmutation of Alchemy, author Philip Ashley Fanning has diligently examined the evidence and concludes that the two major aspects of Newton’s research—conventional science and alchemy—were actually inseparable. Fanning reveals the surprisingly profound influence that Newton’s study of this hermetic art had in shaping his widely adopted scientific concepts. Alchemy was an ancient tradition of speculative philosophy that promised miraculous powers, such as the ability to change base metals into gold and the possibility of an elixir of life. Fanning compellingly describes this carefully tended esoteric institution, which may have found its greatest advocate in the career of the father of modern science. Relegated to the fringes of discourse until its twentieth-century revival by innovative thinkers such as psychiatrist Carl Jung, alchemy offers a key to understanding both the foundations of modern knowledge and important avenues in which we may yet discover wisdom.

$18.95
Trade Paper
978-1-55643-772-4
272 pages, 6 x 9

On sale July 7, 2009

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TAO of Letting Go: Meditation for Modern Living
By Bruce Frantzis

What is known from the Tao Te Ching, I Ching, and other Taoist texts is almost entirely literary. When Bruce Frantzis studied these texts with his main teacher, Grandmaster Liu Hung Chieh, he was taught their practical application: “This is what they say; this is what they mean; this is how to do them.” In The Tao of Letting Go, Frantzis offers a bridge to this pragmatic approach for living a spiritual life. Spirituality is not just an aspiration for which people strive, he says, but a genuine, accomplishable reality. Frantzis shows how to expend maximum effort and yet not use force—the gentle way of the Water method—to enrich personal health and energy systems. The author shows how to completely let go of the blockages that bind and prevent the seeker from reaching full spiritual potential. Short, direct chapters and exercises cover such topics as breathing and awareness; Taoist meditation; fog and depression; modern anxiety; love and compassion; and more.

$19.95
Trade Paper
978-1-55643-808-0
175 pages, 6 x 9

On sale July 7, 2009

Click HERE for the author’s website.

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The Passionate Mind Revisited: Expanding Personal and Social Awareness
By Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad

The Passionate Mind Revisited takes readers on a liberating inner journey into the workings of their mind, transforming the way people look at themselves and the world. Expanding on Joel Kramer’s The Passionate Mind (1974), this book shows how the world’s life-threatening dramas are largely a function of people’s beliefs and experiences, and how humanity is on an evolutionary cusp requiring expanded awareness and conscious social evolution. In exploring what it is to be human, the book offers new vantage points on life’s core issues: the nature of thought, belief, fear, desire, love, relationships, freedom, meditation, violence, and evolution. By demonstrating how to inwardly see and break through one’s conditioning, Kramer and Alstad reveal deep aspects of the nature and processes of the mind, including how subjectivity materializes through different ways of filtering perception. The Passionate Mind Revisited also presents an evolutionary perspective on personal and global issues to help readers facilitate the shift to conscious social evolution.

$16.95
Trade Paper
978-1-55643-807-3
384 pages, 6 x 9

On sale July 14, 2009

Click HERE for the authors’ website.

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Wild Design: Ecofriendly Innovations Inspired by Nature
By Alan Marshall

In Wild Design, environmental designer and scientist Alan Marshall presents a manifesto on nature-inspired designs, including visionary concepts as well as exhibits of actual products, landscapes, and artwork from around the world. With elegant photographs and drawings, the book incorporates the ethos of sustainability by documenting many of the results of the Ecomimicry Project, an international experiment in ecodesign that marries the skills of local artists and ecologists from Western Australia and the Carpathian mountains in eastern Europe. All the designs treat nature as an inspiration for ecofriendly innovations. Among the fascinating possibilities:a bike helmet based on the crustacean exoskeleton, a heliotropic house, and a car fueled by algae. Marshall argues that design should be the responsibility of all, not just a technological elite, and it is in this spirit that he offers this timely, important book.

$18.95
Trade Paper
978-1-55643-790-8
168 pages, 5-1/2 x 8-1/2

On sale July 14, 2009

Click HERE for the author’s website.

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Daily Kabbalah: Wisdom from the Tree of Life
By Gershon Winkler

From sorcery to animal totems, talking trees to magical stones, sacred circles to healing rituals, the Kabbalah brings readers a rich body of ancient wisdom that has been long neglected and even longer misunderstood. The Kabbalah celebrates a quality of consciousness that enables one to experience magic in the ordinary, miracles in the natural course of events, and spirituality in the physical. Its roots are as old and rich as most aboriginal shamanic traditions, sharing in common with many of them the belief that all of creation is alive. The uniqueness of Daily Kabbalah: Wisdom from the Tree of Life lies in its selections from this rare tradition of Jewish mystery wisdom. Culled from ancient and medieval Hebraic and Aramaic sources, much of this material has been hidden in dusty archives or obscure translations. These short selected readings are intended as contemplative, inspirational, and even entertaining extracts, accessible to readers of all backgrounds and spiritual paths.

$17.95
Trade Paper
978-1-55643-794-6
384 pages, 5-1/2 x 8-1/2

On sale July 21, 2009

Click HERE for the author’s website.

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Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of New England and Eastern Canada
By David L. Spahr

This beautifully illustrated guidebook provides specific, easy-to-understand information on finding, collecting, identifying, and preparing the safer and more common edible and medicinal mushroom species of New England and Eastern Canada. Author David Spahr, a trained commercial photographer, here combines his mycological expertise and photographic skill to produce an attractive and detailed overview of his subject. Based on decades of practical experience and research, the book is written in a clear and forthright style that avoids the dry, generic descriptions of most field guides. Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of New England and Eastern Canada also provides useful ideas for cooking mushrooms. Rather than simply providing recipes, the book discusses the cooking characteristics of each variety, with advice about matching species with appropriate foods. Many mushrooms contain unique medicinal components for boosting the immune system to fight cancer, HIV, and other diseases, and Spahr offers practical and prudent guidelines for exploration of this rapidly emerging area of alternative therapeutic practice.

$19.95
Trade Paper
978-1-55643-795-3
248 pages, 7 x 9-1/4

On sale July 21, 2009

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Raw Family Signature Dishes: A Step-by-Step Guide to Essential Live-Food Recipes
By Victoria Boutenko

While the raw food diet is the fastest growing alternative approach to eating because of its health benefits, preparing raw food dishes is so new that many people don’t know where to start. With 500 color photos, Raw Family Signature Dishes is a friendly, step-by-step guide that gently walks readers through recipes to create amazingly delicious and nutritious meals. Victoria Boutenko and her family are known worldwide as the Raw Family, living on a raw diet and teaching classes since 1994. Throughout the years they have perfected scores of scrumptious recipes with the idea of not only spreading the gospel of the diet’s health benefits, but also making the raw foods lifestyle realistically possible and enjoyable. Mouth-watering rather than medicinal, simple rather than complicated, the recipes presented here include jams, scones, soup, crackers, nut milk, truffles, chocolate cake, and more. Complete, illustrated directions make it simple for both avid raw foodists and novice cooks alike to embrace the diet favored by Demi Moore, Donna Karan, and other celebrities.

$18.95
Trade Paper
978-1-55643-797-7
176 pages, 8 x 10

On sale July 21, 2009

Click HERE for the author’s website.

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Heavenly Tree, Northern Earth
By Gerrit Lansing

A senior figure of American letters whose works span more than five decades of creativity, Gerrit Lansing has been an icon of the American cultural underground since the late 1950s and has been a friend and mentor to generations of creative people. Lansing was a close friend and colleague of legendary folklorist and filmmaker Harry Smith and literary giant Charles Olson (who acknowledged Lansing’s influence), among countless others. Poet Robert Kelly has characterized him as “the most learned among us, and the most fun.” Like Emily Dickinson, Lansing has patiently crafted a body of poetic work that includes brilliant and memorable high spots. His work in Heavenly Tree, Northern Earth also represents an integrated whole whose lasting place in the canon of American literature is assured. With themes at once personal and universal, spiritual and esoteric, human and erotic, Heavenly Tree, Northern Earth captures the creative spirit of an unsung master of modern poetry.

$35.00
Trade Paper
978-1-55643-754-0
248 pages, 6 x 9-1/4

On sale July 28, 2009

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On the Origin of Form: Evolution by Self-Organization
By Stuart Pivar

On the Origin of Form presents a new account of evolution and the origin of life based on the premise that the body form of any species is encoded not in the DNA but in the patterned structure of the primordial germ plasm—the universal predecessor of the egg. Two hundred years after Johann von Goethe’s Faustian quest for the Urform, the archetypal design underlying all living form, comes the recent discovery that organic forms are derived from a unique, self-organized, pre-embryonic structure. This explanation of evolution is an alternative to the now widely questioned Neo-Darwinist theory of natural selection of random mutations. This new model is based on known, relatively uncomplicated scientific principles and is easily accessible to the interested layman.

$24.95
Trade Paper
978-1-55643-886-8
208 pages, 8 x 10

On sale July 28, 2009

Imagination & Fire: Dale Pendell

On Wednesday July 22, 2009–at the October Gallery in London–The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness Lecture Series presents:

Imagination And Fire:
New Work and Conversation with Dale Pendell

Dale Pendell is the author of the award-winning Pharmako trilogy on shamanic ethnobotany (Pharmako/Poeia, Pharmako/Dynamis, and Pharmako/Gnosis), Inspired Madness, a book about Burning Man, and Walking with Nobby, a book of conversations with the philosopher Norman O. Brown. Works in progress include The Great Bay, a futuristic novel of a post-collapse society, and Stealing Fire, a new book of poems.

Plant student Dale Pendell established himself as one of the foremost popular exponents of shamanic ethnobotany with the first release of his unprecedented Pharmako trilogy. A noted poet, he was the founding editor of the avant-garde magazine Kuksu and a co-founder of the Primitive Arts Institute and has led workshops on ethnobotany and ethnopoetics for the Naropa Institute and the Omega Institute. Pendell’s performance group, Oracular Madness, most recently appeared at Burning Man. Also an experienced computer scientist, he lives in California’s Sierra foothills with his wife Laura.

This lecture is part of a series to be held at the October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, Bloomsbury, London on the last Tuesday of each month (excluding August).

Arrive at 6pm for a 6:30pm start. Please reserve your place by emailing rentals@octobergallery.co.uk or calling 44 (0)20 7831 1618.