Finished!
Friends,
I've finished writing Book the Fifth!
The first draft of Loneliness and Revelation: A Study of the Sacred is finally complete. I'm preparing the cover copy and the proposal for the publisher now, and I will give myself about a month or so to do any last edits, modifications, improvements and minor changes, and produce a final manuscript.
Actually, I finished the manuscript by splitting up my work in progress. The first part of the book, which I had been calling "the argument", was originally intended as a short 10-page introduction for another project. Then as I began to see more philosophical questions emerging from it, and more prospective directions for answers, it grew longer. Right now that short 10-page intro is 43,000 words with 47 sub-sections. As the argument became more intricate and required more explanation, and as the word count for the whole thing topped 85,000 with still lots of planned material ahead, I decided to split the text into a series of smaller books. Wouldn't it look silly if the introduction turned out to be much longer than the body of the text! I had been thinking about it for a while, but a conversation with a few friends here helped me finalise the decision. This also means that the rest of the text can be released separately as Parts Two and Three of a series. I won't have to rush it, nor cram too much material into a small space. It also occurred to me that since we are in an economic depression, it might be better to produce a smaller book: it will be less costly to produce, and less expensive for the reader to buy.
I think this fifth book has some very good material in it. So far I have described it in public at gatherings and book-signing gigs in Milan, in Edmonton, and in Ottawa, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. If I may boast like a proper Celt for a moment: my presentation in Ottawa two days ago was attended by Isaac Bonewits, who subsequently told the audience that I am smarter than he is. High praise indeed! Of course, now I had better live up to it.
By the way: those who contributed to my "Call for Help" a few weeks ago, and answered my short questions about their occupational relationships, will find that material in the subsequent books in the series instead of in this one.
Forty-Seven Meditations on Loneliness and Revelation: A Study of the Sacred.
by Brendan Myers, Ph.D.
Short summary
This book explains the nature and the sources of loneliness, why the usual solutions don’t work, and offers a solution which involves bridging the gaps between ethics, art, and spirituality.
Cover copy
Almost everyone experiences loneliness in their lives. Yet most people are secretly afraid of it, and will do nearly anything to avoid it. Few are willing to talk about it at all.
In these forty-eight short meditations, the author shows that loneliness is not simply a social phenomenon, nor a medical condition, nor a weakness of will. Rather, it is an existential condition of life. So you can’t turn to other people, or “true love”, for a solution. Nor can you turn to God, for God is probably lonelier than you are! But loneliness is neither good nor evil. Indeed it can be a source of profound spiritual insight. Great religious heroes like Moses, Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed made their most important spiritual discoveries in solitude. Using a simple philosophical discourse, this book offers a new understanding of the idea of Revelation. It is available to everyone, not just to priests and prophets. It can push back the frontier of loneliness, and render life meaningful and beautiful and worthwhile. The Revelation is a way of being in the world which gives spiritual significance to the arts, human relationships, love, and indeed to loneliness itself. It has four simple but far-reaching principles: “I am here; this is what I am; and what I am is beautiful! Is anyone else out there?”
Word count
First complete draft: 43,000.
Estimated finished manuscript: 46,000.
Estimated time of manuscript delivery:
Mid to late August, 2009.
Planned Series:
Part Two: The Human Revelation
Part Three: The Natural Revelation
Part Four: The Social Revelation
By the way:
Assuming that the publisher accepts this text, it will be available in bookstores probably eight to ten months from now. Publishing is like wine-making -- it takes time!
I've finished writing Book the Fifth!
The first draft of Loneliness and Revelation: A Study of the Sacred is finally complete. I'm preparing the cover copy and the proposal for the publisher now, and I will give myself about a month or so to do any last edits, modifications, improvements and minor changes, and produce a final manuscript.
Actually, I finished the manuscript by splitting up my work in progress. The first part of the book, which I had been calling "the argument", was originally intended as a short 10-page introduction for another project. Then as I began to see more philosophical questions emerging from it, and more prospective directions for answers, it grew longer. Right now that short 10-page intro is 43,000 words with 47 sub-sections. As the argument became more intricate and required more explanation, and as the word count for the whole thing topped 85,000 with still lots of planned material ahead, I decided to split the text into a series of smaller books. Wouldn't it look silly if the introduction turned out to be much longer than the body of the text! I had been thinking about it for a while, but a conversation with a few friends here helped me finalise the decision. This also means that the rest of the text can be released separately as Parts Two and Three of a series. I won't have to rush it, nor cram too much material into a small space. It also occurred to me that since we are in an economic depression, it might be better to produce a smaller book: it will be less costly to produce, and less expensive for the reader to buy.
I think this fifth book has some very good material in it. So far I have described it in public at gatherings and book-signing gigs in Milan, in Edmonton, and in Ottawa, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. If I may boast like a proper Celt for a moment: my presentation in Ottawa two days ago was attended by Isaac Bonewits, who subsequently told the audience that I am smarter than he is. High praise indeed! Of course, now I had better live up to it.
By the way: those who contributed to my "Call for Help" a few weeks ago, and answered my short questions about their occupational relationships, will find that material in the subsequent books in the series instead of in this one.
Forty-Seven Meditations on Loneliness and Revelation: A Study of the Sacred.
by Brendan Myers, Ph.D.
Short summary
This book explains the nature and the sources of loneliness, why the usual solutions don’t work, and offers a solution which involves bridging the gaps between ethics, art, and spirituality.
Cover copy
Almost everyone experiences loneliness in their lives. Yet most people are secretly afraid of it, and will do nearly anything to avoid it. Few are willing to talk about it at all.
In these forty-eight short meditations, the author shows that loneliness is not simply a social phenomenon, nor a medical condition, nor a weakness of will. Rather, it is an existential condition of life. So you can’t turn to other people, or “true love”, for a solution. Nor can you turn to God, for God is probably lonelier than you are! But loneliness is neither good nor evil. Indeed it can be a source of profound spiritual insight. Great religious heroes like Moses, Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed made their most important spiritual discoveries in solitude. Using a simple philosophical discourse, this book offers a new understanding of the idea of Revelation. It is available to everyone, not just to priests and prophets. It can push back the frontier of loneliness, and render life meaningful and beautiful and worthwhile. The Revelation is a way of being in the world which gives spiritual significance to the arts, human relationships, love, and indeed to loneliness itself. It has four simple but far-reaching principles: “I am here; this is what I am; and what I am is beautiful! Is anyone else out there?”
Word count
First complete draft: 43,000.
Estimated finished manuscript: 46,000.
Estimated time of manuscript delivery:
Mid to late August, 2009.
Planned Series:
Part Two: The Human Revelation
Part Three: The Natural Revelation
Part Four: The Social Revelation
By the way:
Assuming that the publisher accepts this text, it will be available in bookstores probably eight to ten months from now. Publishing is like wine-making -- it takes time!