Jeffrey's RECOMMENDED READING & LISTENING

[Play music: "Sultans of Swing" MIDI]

Today, I am told by book marketers that about half of all American households never buy a book in any given year. And of those books which are sold, about one half are about celebrities, entertainment or sports or other subjects directly related to, or learned about through television and similar forms of media. That leaves about 25% of the households in the market for other types of books, whether they be fiction, romance novels, politics, philosophy, self-help, history or perhaps (god forbid) subjects requiring critical thinking. - Joe Bageant, April 2007

NON-FICTION

Barbara Kingsolver: Small Wonder - understanding and caring for community and the planet.
Chris Czajkowski: Nuk Tessli - The Life of a Wilderness Dweller - real wilderness living.
Angeles Arrien: The Four-Fold Way - Walking The Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary. Integrates indigenous wisdom with immediate application.
Bill Kauth: A Circle of Men - The Original Manual for Men's Support Groups. For starting a men's group or energizing an existing one, this is the book to use.
Les Kaye: Zen at Work - a Zen Teacher's 30-year Journey in Corporate America. Zen Heaven meets Zen earth. A simple and inspiring book.
Robert Moore & Douglas Gillette: King, Warrior, Magician, Lover - Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine. An excellent context for understanding the male psyche.
Tom Brown Jr.: The Tracker - changed my relationship with the natural world.
Toby Hemenway: Gaia's Garden. A guide for home permaculture.
Riane Eisler: The Power of Partnership - Understanding and doing something about the seemingly irrational violence in our world.

Alicante
Jacques Prévert (Paroles)

Une orange sur la table
Ta robe sur le tapis
Et toi dans mon lit
Doux présent du présent
Fraîcheur de la nuit
Chaleur de ma vie.

FICTION

Herman Charles Bosman: Mafeking Road. Humorous essence of old-world rural Afrikanerdom.
Andre Brink: An Instant in the Wind.  A remarkable story, charged with South African energy.
Mark Helprin: Winter's Tale.  Inspired imagination and evocative writing.
Doris Lessing: The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four, and Five.  An account of the challenges and triumphs of difference in relationship and culture.
Trevanian: Shibumi. My all-time favourite in the "thriller" genre.

I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little further down our particular path than we have gone ourselves. - E. M. Forster

More about   My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors

MAGAZINES

Whole Earth.  A wealth of diverse and original information and thinking. I was a subscriber for 20 years until this fine magazine ceased production. Look for back copies.
Museletter.  Richard Heinberg's concentrated, original and synthesizing musings.

MUSIC
(just a few favourites from other-than-classical genres)
[Play music: "Sultans of Swing" Instrumental]

Given that we are surrounded constantly by commercial images and messages, it is easy to understand the increasing popularity of music and art from other times and cultures - classical, baroque and renaissance music, world music, Native American and Aboriginal art, early Zen art, African drumming and dance. These forms seem to carry far more of the essential healing current of art, far less of any manipulative message implanted by corporations. - Richard Heinberg in Museletter, April 2001.

Sinead O'Connor: Throw Down Your Arms.Perfect mix of Sinead and Reggae.
The Commitments: The Commitments - Film soundtrack. Energy!
Cowboy Junkies: The Trinity Session. One of many fine Canadian groups. Silky, late-night stuff.
Dire Straits: On Every Street. In my view, the best of it's kind (60s-70s rock)
Mickey Hart Planet Drum  Mickey Hart brings together "great drummers from around the world to make a recording based entirely on percussion."
Abdullah Ibrahim: Cape Town Flowers  A classic from my all-time favourite jazzman.
Loreena McKennitt: The Mask and Mirror. An exotic mix by a fine (Canadian) singer and instrumentalist.
Michelle Shocked: Arkansas Traveller Mountain folk, with edge.

We have fallen into the place where everything is music. The strumming and the flute notes rise into the atmosphere, and even if the world's harp should burn up, there will still be hidden instruments playing . . . Jalal al-Din Rumi

 

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