The Olympic Odyssey: Rekindling the True Spirit of the Great Games [Paperback]

Phil Cousineau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2003

The US Olympic Committee gave each Summer 2004 athlete this book for showing how the Games inspire contestants, trainers, fans, and nations alike. Its mythology and sports stories offer metaphors for living with passion, compassion, focus, and fairness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A passionate study of the ecstatic dimension of the Olympics and of their contribution to the evolution of consciousness. -- Michael Murphy, author of The Future of the Body and Golf in the Kingdom; chairman and cofounder, Esalen Institute

Cousineau evokes the Olympics in all their old, noble glory to show that sports are only part of it. -- Mort Rosenblum, author of Mission to Civilize and Who Stole the News

Phil Cousineau daringly reminds us to play hard, but for love of the game and a cause bigger than ourselves. -- Sarunas Marciulionis, Lithuanian and NBA basketball player, winner of the three Olympic medals (1988, 1992, 1996)

Phil Cousineau has written a dramatic and inspiring book that highlights the true spirit of the Olympic Games. -- Bud Greenspan, Olympic filmmaker

THE OLYMPIC ODYSSEY reveals how training for and competing in the Games is one of life's great and mythic journeys. -- Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions, Why Religion Matters, and The Way Things Are

About the Author

Phil Cousineau is an author, editor, teacher, adventure travel leader, photographer, and documentary filmmaker. His life-long fascination with the art, literature, and history of culture has taken him on journeys around the world. He lectures frequently on a wide range of topics from creativity, mythology, mentorship, and soul to pilgrimage and community work.

Born at an army hospital in Columbia, South Carolina in 1952, Phil Cousineau grew up in Wayne, Michigan, just outside of Detroit. While moonlighting in an automotive parts factory, he studied journalism at the University of Detroit. Before turning to writing full-time in 1984, his peripatetic career included stints as a sportswriter and photographer, playing basketball in Europe, harvesting date trees on an Israeli kibbutz, and painting forty-four Victorian houses in San Francisco.

His best-selling books, Once and Future Myths and The Art of Pilgrimage, are his most recent works. He has authored many more, including the winner of the 1991 Fallot Literary Award, Deadlines: A Rhapsody on a Theme of Famous Last Words. His books have been tranlated into seven languages. Moreover, he is a contributor to sixteen other books, one of which was a collaboration with John Densmore on his best-selling autobiography, Riders on the Storm: My Life with Jim Morrison and The Doors.

Cousineau's articles, reviews, and poetry have been widely published in magazines and newspapers around the country. He has led eight art and literary tours to soulful places in Ireland, England, France, Greece, and Turkey. He has collaborated with many of the leading thinkers and teachers of our time, namely Huston Smith, Joseph Campbell, Robert A. Johnson, Robert Bly, and many more. His twelve screenwriting credits in documentary films, which have won more than twenty-five international awards, include the 1991 Academy Award-nominated Forever Activists: Stories from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

Current projects include two documentary films, The Future of the City and A Place at the Table: Struggling for American Indian Religious Freedom, a book of poetry, The Blue Museum, and a book of essays, Who Stole the Arms of the Venus de Milo?

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Quest Books; 1 edition (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0835608336
• ISBN-13: 978-0835608336
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,394,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

PHIL COUSINEAU is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, teacher and editor, world-wide lecturer, storyteller and TV host. His fascination with the art, literature, and history of culture has taken him from Michigan to Marrakesh, Iceland to the Amazon, in a worldwide search for what the ancients called the "soul of the world." With more than 25 books and 15 scriptwriting credits to his name, the "omnipresent influence of myth in modern life" is a thread that runs through all of his work.

BOOKS: Cousineau's books include STOKING THE CREATIVE FIRES, ONCE AND FUTURE MYTHS, THE ART OF PILGRIMAGE, THE HERO'S JOURNEY: JOSEPH CAMPBELL ON HIS LIFE AND WORK, SOUL: AN ARCHAEOLOGY, and most recently, WORDCATCHER. A new book of essays and reflections on healing, restitution and atonement, titled BEYOND FORGIVENESS, will publish in 2011. His books have been translated into nine languages, and he is a contributor to more than 30 other books.

TALKS & TRAVELS: Cousineau lectures frequently on a wide spectrum of topics that reflect his mythic and scholarly journeys, including mythology, movies, writing, mentorship, beauty, language, travel, sports, language, and creativity. He has been the keynote speaker at major conferences as diverse as the Ansel Adams Centennial Celebration in Yosemite National Park, and The European Unitarian Universalists' Retreat in the Netherlands. He has been invited to lecture at distinguished venues around the world and has collaborated and appeared with some of the great thinkers and philosophers of our time, including mentors Joseph Campbell and Huston Smith. He enjoys collaborating with musicians and artists. An expert in pilgrimage, Cousineau occasionally leads small group journeys to sacred and culturally rich places; in 2011 he will take groups to Ireland and Paris.

FILMS: Phil Cousineau's screenwriting credits in documentary films have won more than 25 international awards and include: A SEAT AT THE TABLE, ECOLOGICAL DESIGN, WAYFINDERS, THE PEYOTE ROAD, WIPING THE TEARS OF SEVEN GENERATIONS, THE HERO'S JOURNEY; and the Academy Award-nominated FOREVER ACTIVISTS.

TV & APPEARANCES: He is currently the co-writer and host of GLOBAL SPIRIT, Link TV's "internal travel" television series soon broadcasting on PBS stations. Cousineau has also appeared on CNN, The Discovery Channel, and Fox News, and been featured on Voice of America, PRI's The World, CBC's Tapestry, Deepak Chopra's Wellness Radio, and Public Radio's At Issue with Ben Merens. He has been interviewed for stories in TIME and NEWSWEEK as well as the NEW YORK TIMES. He has been a judge for the Emmys, San Francisco Film Festival, and the PEN-WEST literary awards. Look for his expert commentary and mythic take on film among the special features on several Warner Brothers DVDs--from THE NATURAL and CONSTANTINE to BATMAN and SUPERMAN.

CONSULTING: An expert on mythology and film and the "hero journey" structure of screenplays, Cousineau consults on all types of writing projects.

Cousineau lives with his family in North Beach in San Francisco, California, where he is currently writing a book on beauty. Learn more at http://www.philcousineau.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The True Spirit of Sports--Passing the Torch, February 1, 2004

By 

"janeforster" (West Coast USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Olympic Odyssey: Rekindling the True Spirit of the Great Games (Paperback)

Cousineau has written a deeply inspiring book about what's at the heart of athletic competition. By ditching the dish about joyless promoters, greedy agents and big money sports stars and instead packing in amazing and inspiring stories of effort and courage by athletes and coaches from as far back as the 8th century B.C.E. up to the 2000 games, Cousineau maps out an impassioned blueprint for reclaiming "the soul of sports." The timeless "olympic" lessons he relays, the heart-swelling tear-jerking stories he tells will inspire not only Olympic athletes (every Olympic hopeful should have this book in their gym bag) and players in the big leagues, but also kids on school teams, parents of young athletes, everyone who just loves to play, and sports fans of all stripes. The section on coaching alone is worth the price of the book. If every coach or parent-coach digested the wisdom from legendary "Philosopher Coaches" such as John Wooden and Percy Cerutty, honored "The 10 Commandments of True Sportsmanship," and followed the author's own wise suggestions for "rekindling the true spirit of the great games" every kid would be involved in team sports and loving it! (A startling statistic in the book--75% of all kids stop playing sports by age 12.)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational. More than just a sports book., May 12, 2004

By 

Sal Morano (Corona, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Olympic Odyssey: Rekindling the True Spirit of the Great Games (Paperback)

In January, I wrote a negative review of this book due to ten factual inaccuracies that jumped out at me. Since then, corrections have been made, and, I must admit, it is one uplifting read. I understand that the U.S. Olympic Committee will be providing one copy to each athlete heading for Athens in August. Good for them. It transcends the world of sports and games. A little treasure for anyone in search of positive ways to deal with life's daily challenges.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Odyssey is full of spirit! - I liked it!, January 11, 2004

By 

J Borton (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Olympic Odyssey: Rekindling the True Spirit of the Great Games (Paperback)

I read this book just before the holidays. With the Olympics coming up, and & the title suggesting a fresh viewpoint, I thought it might be interesting. Well it is! It's full of inspiring stories, insights, and just plain lots of interesting things I didn't know about the history and struggle to get these games happening. I ended up rethinking my Christmas presents and bought 5 copies to give to my dad, mom, stepdad, brother-in-law, and sister. It proved to be a great choice, they all were reading it within a few days after Christmas and were enjoying it. Now we're not all fanatical sports-fans, but if it could please that wide a range of readers with different interests, I'd say this must be a good book. This is my first review for Amazon, and must admit I didn't get my copies here (I found them in my local bookstore) but when I checked in to see how others were reviewing this book tonight, I thought I'd leave you with my opinion, since I do often buy other books here. I think this one's a good read! I especially liked, in addition to the history, the personal glimpses into how many of the atheletes overcame something to push on & succeed. I keep on my wall beside my computer now "Coach Leonard Natkowski's Hand-out" which ends saying: "...If you think you'll lose, you've lost, for out in the world you'll find success begins with a fellow's will. It's all in the state of mind. Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man; but sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can." That's how sports reminds us to keep going in life; attitude + preparation + sheer determination is what it takes. It's those same examples of effort, determination, and triumph that I know will move me most when I'm watching these next Olympics on TV. So, I think this book is very true to the spirit of the games and I'll bet that you will too!