Once and Future Myths: The Power of Ancient Stories in Modern Times (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "I am sitting in the dark at my rolltop desk and marveling for a few minutes, as I do every night, at our view of..." (more)
Key Phrases: mythic imagination, mythic vision, old ballpark, Ram Dass, San Francisco, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Myths, explains filmmaker and author Phil Cousineau in, are stories that belong to the "once and the future" because they evoke "the timeless concerns of human beings--birth, death, time, good, and evil, creativity and destruction." In his excellent Once and Future Myths, the author of The Art of Pilgrimage shows readers how mythology continues to affect and shape contemporary life. Myths are also forces to be reckoned with. Unless we become aware of the myths unfolding in our personal lives, "we run the risk of being controlled by them," he warns.

As his mentor Joseph Campbell once did, Cousineau often draws from pop culture to help readers understand modern myths and how they influence us. In a chapter entitled "The Myth of the Creative Struggle," he shows how Frank Sinatra mythologized urban life by "making our loneliness and our struggle seem sacred, and triumph possible." Yet Cousineau is most profound when he casts a mythic eye toward his own simple life. In a tender passage about taking his son to the ballpark, he gives words to the irresistible appeal and mythology of sports. Whether you are a writer grappling with understanding the subtext of life, a seeker who yearns to know your soul's true story, or are simply a fan of all things mythic, this is a highly recommend resource and a delight to read. --Gail Hudson

From Library Journal

In this personal book, many years in the making, renowned illustrator, photographer, and adventurer Cousineau speculates on the origins, development, and meaning of myths. Examining mythic tales from around the world, Cousineau argues that myth remains omnipresent in our daily life. To make his case, he examines a vast array of experiences, including baseball, popular music, diet, and general amusements. The thrust of this thoughtful book is that science may explain how the world works, but myth explains why. This is fascinating reading, though the style is meandering and the material somewhat heady. For inclusive collections of ancient lore and mythic reveries. Richard K. Burns, MSLS, Hatbor, PA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Conari Press; 1St Edition edition (August 14, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573241466
• ISBN-13: 978-1573241465
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #775,446 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, October 31, 2001

By	"babsaholic" (BC) - See all my reviews

I enjoyed this book because of its wide-ranging subjects...the way he related baseball to Paris to philosophy to food to Easter Island to...etc. I thought his first chapter on the myth of Sisyphus worked the best. I was expecting each chapter to be related to some Greek or other classic myth, and how that myth resonates in our modern lives, but this is not what he did, except for that 1st chapter. Nevertheless, a good, thought-provoking book, not overly New-Agey.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Speaks directly to the human need to find meaning, September 5, 2001

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

In Once And Future Myths: The Power Of Ancient Stories In Modern Times, author Phil Cousinaeu, (a longtime student and colleague of Joseph Campbell) views mythology as a living phenomenon with immediate impact in daily human life. Through understanding the nature of mythical stories, Cousinaeu explains, we are better able to understand what drives us to work, love, create, and dream. Integrating psychology, history, and mythology into a unified gem of insight, Once And Future Myths includes such topics as "How the Myth of Time that we are living determines our quality of life" and "How the Myth of Creative Struggle teaches us to embrace failure as a learning experience." Once And Future Myths speaks directly to the human need to find meaning to our lives.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are you living a myth or a life?, September 20, 2002

By	"johnnalo" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews

This book changed my life. The chapter on Sisyphus alone (a metaphor for the creative struggle) was worth the price of admission. Phil Cousineau weaves endearing personal stories throughout the sharp scholarship as a means to ease us into feeling comfortable with the many complex (yet surprising) ideas about myth (classical, world, modern, popular) he shares with us. It's not about him though, it's really about finding our own stories, our own personal myths. And figuring out what is truly meaningful for us no matter where we are in our lives. Through stories about relationships, travel, sports, music, time, and countless other ways and associations, he clues us in to what deeper issues lie under the surface of things. It's not a breezy read; Cousineau has an amazing way of linking diverse subjects and finding correspondences amongst odd topics that may meander but are always delightful. A world-traveler, tortured writer, devoted father, sports fan, and humble wise man rolled up in one, Cousineau inspires us to reach for more. Highly recommended.