Reading Suggestions and Top Ten Books

[IanEye]

[myriadsmallcreature]

Almost all the threads today remind me of these four books.

"Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina, and Richard Fariña" by David Hadju

"Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me" by Richard Fariña

"Tarantula" and "Chronicles" by Bobby Zimmerman

Believe me, fans or no, you will not be disappointed.

And what's up with that destruction of Church property?

[myriadsmallcreature]

Lives of the Monster Dogs, Kirsten Bakis
In the Beauty of the Lilies, John Updike
Dictionary of the Khazars, Milorad Pavic

Jeff, I am curious about your third recommendation. I think it is so important it deserves a thread of its own. And more important than that. The Kazhars stand at the xroads of history. And not only because of the perhaps apocryphal mass conversion to Judaism. Are you familiar with the variant paragraph?

[Jeff]

Are you familiar with the variant paragraph?

Yes, but it's been a long time since I've read it so I'd need to Google and that's cheating.

[myriadsmallcreature]

Are you familiar with the variant paragraph?

Yes, but it's been a long time since I've read it so I'd need to Google and that's cheating.

I understand that, but I wonder why you recommended it. What made it so compelling to you to that you would do so.

There is madness to my method.

Feel free to delete this post.

[lightningBugout]

Karel Čapek - war with the newts

[Stephen Morgan]

Unholy Alliance by Peter Levenda
Death in Washington by Donald Freed
Stefano della Chiaie by Stewart Christie
Welcome to Terrorland by Daniel Hopsicker
Programmed to Kill by Dave McGowan
Njal's Saga
Psychic Dictatorship in the USA by Alex Constantine
The Discoverie of King Arthur by Geoffrey Ashe
The Triumph of the Political Class by Peter Oborne
The Birth of the United States by Isaac Asimov
The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
The Rise of the Meritocracy by Michael Young
The Occult Causes of the Present War by Lewis Spence
The Vote by Paul Foot
Klaus Barbie by Tom Bower
The Rise of the English Working Class by EP Thompson
FOUL! by Andrew Jennings
The Destruction of Yugoslavia by Michael Parenti
The Carnivals of Life and Death by James Shelby Downard
Myth Religion and Mother-Right by JJ Bachofen
The Maldive Mystery by Thor Hyerdahl

If we're to wander into the irrelevant realms of fiction Gilbert Without Sullivan, William McGonagall's Poetic Gems and Robert Rankin's Greatest Man Who Ever Lived. In non-fiction humour Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure. John Buchan's The Three Hostages.

[Hugh Manatee Wins]

'Towers of Deception' (2006) by Canadian journalist, Barrie Zwicker, does a really good job of covering the history of militarist capitalism, psyops, the neuroscience it exploits, and the history of false flag terrorism leading up to 9/11 all in one book.

Recommended as a very inclusive single 400 page book.

[jingofever]

I am looking for some good books on 50's 60's and 70's subcultures, ufo cults, etc...

any suggestions ?

I haven't read any but can point to some. The only one that comes to mind is Messengers of Deception by Jacques Vallee. Two others from a little looking around:

When Prophecy Never Fails: Myth and Reality in a Flying-Saucer Group by Diana G. Tumminia:

Of the approximately fifty percent of Americans who believe in UFOs, a fraction are devotees of one of the numerous UFO-based new religious movements. The Unarius Academy of Science is one of the oldest of these groups. Founded in 1954 by "Cosmic Visionaries" Ruth and Ernest Norman (also known, respectively, as Archangels Uriel and Raphiel), Unarius is devoted to teaching the all-encompassing Uranian Science. Combining elements of pop psychology, new age thought, and science fiction, the Science asks its students to channel messages from the infinitely intelligent Space Brothers and to heal themselves through the practice of past-life therapy. Unarians await the arrival of spaceships, manned by the Space Brothers, that will bring to earth advanced intergalactic technology that will benefit all humankind. Tumminia has been conducting research on Unarius for over a decade - attending meetings, inteviewing members, and studying official Unarian literature and videos. Here she offers an inside look at this fascinating movement. She pays particular attention to the ways Unarians adapt when their prophecies - and particularly their prediction that the Space Brothers would land in 2001 - don't materialize. This is the first in-depth study of any UFO religion.

Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions by James R. Lewis:

The macabre mass suicide by adherents of the Heaven's Gate Cult in 1997 was shocking and difficult to comprehend for most outsiders. Their bizarre mindset, which mixed New Age religion with belief in extraterrestrial visitation, struck many as unique. In fact, as the contributors to this intriguing study show, the belief in alien contact has had religious overtones since the first purported sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO) in 1947. Moreover, the religious dimensions of the UFO phenomenon may be the key to understanding the widespread appeal of this modern craze.

An expert in new religions, Professor James Lewis has here brought together twenty insightful articles by leading scholars that cover the many variations of UFO-based religions. What the contributors demonstrate is that there are persistent and salient themes underlying the diversity of beliefs centered on the UFO sightings and alleged contacts as attempts by alien ambassadors from a more advanced civilization to bring spiritual enlightenment to Earth, where humanity is seen to be floundering in ignorance.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIC SOURCEBOOK OF UFO RELIGIONS discusses the histories and beliefs of prominent UFO-based sects; looks at group dynamics and other sociological factors; and presents extensive selections from the unusual literature of the various groups.

This revealing and disturbing study shows that there is much more to the UFO phenomenon than simple curiosity about the possibility of life on other planets.

[thesmokingpants]

thanks
Messengers of Deception is what got me interested in finding more. I will check those two out.

[IanEye]

[professorpan]

IanEye, I love your suggestions -- I was lucky enough to pick up several of them at book fairs in my school when I was a wee lad. I remember in particular enjoying "House of Stairs," which seems to have been ripped off repeatedly by Hollywood in the past few years.....