Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley [Paperback]

Richard Kaczynski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 24, 2002

Aleister Crowley, born in Victorian England to a life of financial privilege and religious bigotry, rebelled against his upbringing. He became a mountaineer, a bohemian, a writer of sensuous poetry and a practitioner of what detractors called "the black arts". He was an uninhibited explorer of global spiritual traditions combining ritual magic with spiritual ecstasy. His winding path intersected ceremonial magic, Buddhism, Hinduism, Kabbalah, sex, drugs, poetry and music. This text provides an account of his life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A balanced and readable biography that reflects how magick shaped every facet of Aleister Crowley's life. -- Christopher S. Hyatt, Ph.D., author of Undoing Yourself

Thank you Dr. Kaczynski. I've waited thirty-five years for this. -- Lon Milo DuQuette, author of The Enochian World of Aleister Crowley

About the Author

By night Richard Kaczynski, Ph.D., is a psychologist specializing in alternative religious beliefs and practices. A student of Crowley's works since 1978, he has lectured internationally, has contributed to Rebels & Devils, The Golden Dawn Source Book and Eidolon, and was a regular columnist for Mezlim magazine. Along with Hymenaeus Beta, he was co-editor of The Revival of Magick and Other Essays. By day he is a college professor teaching graduate level courses in biostatistics and research design for two universities and several hospitals.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: New Falcon Pubns; First Edition edition (December 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561841706
• ISBN-13: 978-1561841707
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > New Age

More About the Author

Richard Kaczynski, Ph.D., is a writer, musician, research scientist and teacher. He is author of "Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley," "The Weiser Concise Guide to Aleister Crowley," "Perdurabo Outtakes," and "Panic in Detroit: The Magician and the Motor City." He has also co-edited with Hymenaeus Beta "The Revival of Magick and Other Essays," and performed editorial duties for "Beauty and Strength" (the NOTOCON VI proceedings book). He has appeared on television in the documentaries "Secrets of the Occult" and "Aleister Crowley: The Beast 666." Dr. Kaczynski earned his Ph.D. in social psychology, with a minor in measurement and statistics, in 1993 with a dissertation on metaphysical beliefs and experiences among occult practitioners in New Religious Movements. He has been a student of the Western hermetic tradition since 1978, and has lectured internationally on these topics since 1990. Over the years, his writing has appeared in various books ("Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism: An Anthology of Critical Studies," "A Concordance to the Holy Books of Thelema," "The Golden Dawn Sourcebook," "Rebels and Devils," "People of the Earth") and magazines ("High Times," "The Magical Link," "Neshamah," "Cheth," "Mezlim," "Eidolon," "Different Worlds"). His latest projects include an edited and annotated edition of Aleister Crowley's "Sword of Song" (1904), and a history of sacred sexuality in esoteric societies during the 19th and early 20th centuries. He lives in Maryland with his wife and cats.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent!!!, January 23, 2003

By 

Author Brian Wallace (Mind Transmission, Inc.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley (Paperback)

Perdurabo is truly a majestic work. Taking the reader on a comprehensive and insightful tour de force, we are given delightful, exciting substance not found in other biographies. The author elegantly and solidly paints a vivid picture of the astounding life of Crowley, his varied - and often bizarre - interests and influences, and the multiple directions his life took.

What is unique about this work is the revealing nature of its chapters which offer detailed accounts of letters, "magickal" practices and previously unexplored facets to this extraordinary life. The author seems to want to give you all the goods, which I like.

Two other wonderful works about this fascinating subject - `Astrology, Aleister, and Aeon,' and `Do What Thou Wilt' - when taken in consideration with this one, provide a delightful trilogy that vouchsafes the most relevant and probing ideas surrounding their subject. When all three are read, one captures a thorough picture of Crowley, for better or worse.

Crowley, the highly controversial mountaineer, magician and writer, is rendered powerful and frail, alluring and repulsive: many lives wrapped up into one. Intriguing, to say the least.

An extensive Notes and References section that pushes this magnificent work close to 600 pages makes the price an absolute bargain. Not to mention the glorious cover art that really must be held to appreciate.

I have no real complaints about this excellent book! I give it my highest recommendation.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most complete biography ever done, September 20, 2003

By 

MissB93 (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley (Paperback)

This book is absolutely wonderful. I am reading it a second time and will read it again. Other biography's are either slanted toward or against Crowley. This one is different. It gives the reader all of the information, in a linear fashion, which enables the reader to come to their own conclusion. It also helps the reader understand many of the works writen by Crowley (i.e. his libers). A must for anyone who wants to study Crowley's work. Very well done, Dr. Kaczynski.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant biography, November 22, 2005

By 

Stefan Isaksson (Malmoe, Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley (Paperback)

Perdurabo isn't the first biography ever written on Aleister Crowley, a.k.a. The Great Beast 666 and The Wickedest Man in the World, and it's probably safe to say that it's not going to be the last.

But that doesn't matter much, because Perdurabo is, quite frankly, an amazing biography, a masterpiece that should be required reading for anybody interested in Crowley's life. It's is definitely not a short book and it's not an easy read. The text is very small and there are no pictures or illustrations whatsoever. And on top of that is Kaczynski a VERY careful writer, sometimes even on the verge of being too careful.

And that last quality must be regarded as both positive and negative. If you're a reader looking for a work that'll give you a total view of Crowley, his childhood, ideas, poetry, circle of friends, magical work, inspirations, dreams and much more, then Perdurabo is the one book to go out and get. On the other hand, if you're not extremely interested and only want a general overview, then don't bother reading it. You'll probably get bored very quickly if you do.

Furthermore, it's not the book you want if you're interested in working Crowley's Magick and how to do the different rituals he came up with. This is a biography, that is, a descriptive book, and NOT a manual of how to do his Magick.

The title is taken from the magical name Crowley chose when he was initiated into The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the magical group he later left in order to start his own. Crowley was a unique person, no question about that. He was a talented poet, an extremely skilled mountaineer, a millionaire (at least in his early years; later in life he basically had to live of his friends), and a controversial student of the occult who didn't hesitate to use different drugs and sexual magic in his ritual working in order to reach his goal - which obviously the British press used and wrongly accused him of being a Satanist or devil worshipper.

Interesting people deserve to have biographies written about them, and Crowley was one of the most interesting people around in the late 19th and early 20th century. All students of the occult should be thankful for Kaczynski's book.

He's really done an amazing job with this one.