Customer Reviews

Email to the Universe

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"You have to be of a particular bent to appreciate this guy," or not. Maybe any kind of bent will do when you are open minded enough to read past the first paragraphs. I'm critiquing another amazon.com reviewer here, but it's really not necessary to bolster Robert Anton Wilson's reviews as there are plenty of serious accolades for Bob's books all over the Net.

I've long considered "Cosmic Trigger I" and "Prometheus Rising" to be the best introductions to Bob's work, but I now have to add "Email to the Universe" to that list. With essays that span a period of 45 years of this remarkable writer's career, this book offers a breadth of observation and speculation guaranteed to fascinate anyone unafraid of the novelty that defines the most eccentric ideas in quantum mechanics and the most innovative inventions of the information age. As always with RAW's books, the reader is in for a wild ride.

Many of us are apparently afraid of that ride. Neophopia, fear of the new, and Neophilia, love of the new, are described in Bob's essay "Dreams of Flying" with the typical RAW talent for presenting mind-bending examples, as in "Cosmic Trigger," and panoramic elucidation as in "Prometheus Rising."

Forgive me as I cut and paste and string together a handful of lines from several paragraphs in this essay . . .

From Email To The Universe:

" . . . dreams of flying appeared in the collective unconscious before the reality of flight existed in technology, and I suspect that if we understood our dreams better we would use our technology more wisely . . . I suggest that we contemplate what our children look at every Saturday morning on TV. One of the most popular jokes in animated cartoons shows the protagonist walking off a cliff, without noticing what he has done. Sublimely ignorant, he continues to walk - on air - until he notices that he has been doing the "impossible," and then he falls . . . Daedalus who, imprisoned in a labyrinth (conventional "reality"), invented wings and flew away, over the heads of his persecutors; and Icarus, the son of Daedalus, who flew too close to the Sun Absolute and fell back to Earth. Like Porky Pig walking off a cliff, Icarus' fall contains a symbolism many have encountered in their own dreams . . . Daedalus means "artist" in Greek . . . Daedalus, inventor of wings that took him from Earth to Outer Space - why does he represent Art, instead of Science? . . . The genius of an artist, Aristotle says, lies in his texne, the root from which we get our word "technology"; but texne basically means skill or craft, or the ability to make things that never existed before. Negative entropy, i.e., information . . . The musician and the architect, the poet and the physicist -- all inventors of new realities -- all such Creators may be best considered late evolutionary developments of the type that first appears as the shaman. Please remember that shamans in most cultures are known as "they who walk in the sky," just like our current shaman-hero, Luke Skywalker . . . The ironies of Swift and Aristophanes, and the myths of the fall of Icarus and Donald Duck, indicate that the collective unconscious contains a force opposed to our dreams of flight. This appears inevitable . . . But what if we begin to regrow healthy organs of Poetic Imagination and flight? What if we "put on wings and arouse the coiled splendor within," as Liber Al urges? . . . Joyce did not name his emblematic Artist merely Daedalus, but Stephen Daedalus -- after St. Stephen the Protomartyr, who reported a Vision and was stoned to death for it . . . Those of us who have no avocation for martyrdom must learn, when we realize how much neophobia remains built into the contraptions of "society" and "the State," the art of surviving in spite of them. In a word, we must "get wise" in both the Socratic meaning of the phrase and in the most hardboiled street meaning. Neophobia functions as an Evolutionary Driver, forcing the neophiliac to get very smart very fast."

~~~~~

Forgive me, Bob, for condensing a ten page essay into one, your writing deserves savoring, but allow me in this little exercise to bring a taste of your work to both the neophiliacs and neophobiacs visiting amazon.com who may be unaware of your gifts.

I really loved this book. From a powerful portrait of the challenges faced by Madalyn Murray when she opposed prayer in schools to the wealth of information available to in 2005 from Internet, James Joyce, etc., this book provides a wealth of mind expanding experiences. I treasure it and look forward to rereading many times in the decades to come.

R.A. Wilson (RAW), is a gateway for the average individual and a guide to boot. He'll take any individual on a whirlwind tour of great minds and subjects but more importantly than that he stresses in his writings how to APPLY these things. His sense of humour is tremendous but the man is by no means naive or blindly optimistic. Everybody these days is going on about quantum physics and philosophy but most of it is the usual buzzword-laden, thought-fad-of-the-moment, "white light" drivel that excites emotions and clutters bookshelves. RAW stresses that you must do the exercises and be satisfied with your own answers to questions.

One should read some of his other non-fiction (and ulyssus) before attemting to read this book. Its good, especialy the essey about Androfobia (fear of menn). Im from Norway, but his ideas transends western culture. All in all I am glad i read prometheus rising and quantum psycology before reading this.

This book may renew the prospect of free and individual thinking.
A hand-book for 'I like to be learned , not taught'.
You have fulfilled the purpose of living, Mr.Wilson. A gross of roses your other books are as well.
It will inspire generations to come.

What I love about Bob's work is that from book to book, even when he addresses the same issues, he always does so from a slightly different perspective. Having read two dozen of his books in the last six years, I found this to be an enlightening "final take" from a modern day genius - reading it deepened my understanding of everything else he has written. As such, I think it's really most enjoyable for those who have some experience with the old guy - i.e. those of us who can appreciate that he's taken to writing haikus about Monteray Bay in his final years.

I understand this book was originally to be called tale of the tribe and it almost did not get published. I'm glad it did. It is a wonderful meditation on the world written by a man who has inspired millions. Robert Anton Wilson always backs up what he says and makes numerous references about many people who have inspired him. As such it is not only a great read on it's own merit but also somewhat of a reference book that makes it easy to find out more for yourself. It's an easy read and anyone who wishes to have a broader perspective on the world and themselves should spend some time with it.

The title of this review is the title of my email. This is a golden apple but this is not a trick unless you look for the physical location of the writer: a fish with that one hook quickly slipping from its lips.

Robert Anton Wilson posted a lot of his writings for free on the internet. Possibly, the power elite didn't censor him because of his bloodline, because he made some kind of deal (notice, if you aren't 100% dedicated to mainstream art, how much it sucks? as if, ever since the 60s, music has been going downhill - & as if public education is taking a dive on purpose, people getting dumber and dumber?)

Me and RAWilson (as mentioned, my bloodlines are Hesse, Bauer/Bowers ("Rothschild"), St Luke) have decided to freely distribute as much liberating media as we can get away with

<- click on my damned name. go to my website

Robert Anton Wilson, Discordian prankster on a mission, layered his every book tape and video with as much consciousness expansion as he could, along with links to places other people had done the same thing. He said upon Crowley (Dont trust him but read him). Why? & why was Crowley's ideal self suspiciously identical to depictions of gray evil aliens?

P2syndrome, keyword bobblehead, (insert cucumber)

Not quite his best however Robert Anton Wilson is getting a bit long in the tooth and fans have probably been pushing for more. I know I was eagerly awaiting Tales of the Tribe. The old man can retire now and rest easy...

You have to be of a particular bent to appreciate this guy. This book was sent to me by accident in actuality. So I read it (with <yawns> and out of sheer boredom) and when I put it down I'm glad I never *bought* his other books. he is one of those anarchist, hippie-types, that believe "fascism" is everywhere and I have to wonder if these tools (i.e. guys like him or those who fall down at his approach) even know what fascism is? Its another one of those flashcard words that every tattooed moron uses these days while smoking a joint.

Anyway, I'm no fan of Christ-insanity either and believe Ms. Murray was given a rough ride simply for not believing in a stupid myth hinged around some cult guru (whether he actually existed or not is another matter) who "came back". And even if He/It did like it did any good as far as his camp followers were concerned. Stealth and force were used on Ms. Murray just like it was used to usurp the Roman Empire. And then the state used to enforce a religion's beliefs. So much for Jesus, eh?

Anyway, I find this guy's rants and idiosyncracies annoying and not worth my time. Like I said, if you're on crack or smoking a doobie this may appeal to you, but for the thinking man I recommend you pass on this and seek you shall find.