| The Breakfast of Champions |
[Aug. 14th, 2008|10:37 pm] |
 In the previous post for the ditch, I wrote about the book The Mirror: A History and said that it could be considered an example of The Breakfast of Champions for Fantasy writers. Does Wheaties still use that as their tag line? I use the term with as much irony as they used it with seriousness to promote a bowl of soggy oat flakes that were supposed to make you run the hundred like Jim Thorpe. What I meant by the term is that there are some non-fiction books that are just so chocked full of cool ideas, descriptions of interesting phenomena, exotic tidbits of history, or compelling instances of the human condition that they make great fodder for the creation of Fantasy fiction. Obviously, not everyone feels the same way about this as I do. A couple of people responding to the post yesterday said they just couldn't get through a non-fiction book. Even when I read these books, I often don't go through them beginning to end in a linear fashion. I'll skip around until it seems I've read the entire thing. Some of them sort of require that you go through from start to finish since they are told as a story. There are long stretches of writing in them where I put the reading on automatic pilot and then simply enjoy the process of downloading information, the jumble of language into my brain. The information in these so called non-fiction books doesn't have to necessarily be factual or have much to do with reality. I'm not reading them to write an article for a scholarly journal One of the comment posters, sbenenati asked if I had a list of other Breakfast of Champion books. I offer a few below that come readily to mind.. There are many many more. They may strike you as interesting, maybe not. They are all ones that I've gotten ideas, notions, glimmerings for stories out of. A lot of times they merely spark my imagination and get it up and running. It's partly a personal thing, but I've gotten great suggestions from others that turned out to be full of potentialities. If you have any that you've gotten some good stuff out of, drop a line in the comments and let me know.
The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana by Jess Nevins -- Seriously, if you can't find a story idea or at least some glimmerings of an idea in this amazing volume, check your pulse. Great Picacio cover on this one to boot.
From Booklist
Reference librarian Nevins is completely at home among the myriad characters of Victorian fantasy literature. An aficionado of the genre, he maps the genealogy of dream-world characters, among them Jules Verne's Captain Nemo, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, Lewis Carroll's Alice, Edgar Allan Poe's Roderick Usher, Bram Stoker's Count Dracula, Robert Louis Stevenson's Edward Hyde, and Mary Shelley's Victor Frankenstein. Into the company of illustrious fantasy figures, Nevins inserts essays on topics such as Doppelganger, The Gothic, Historical romance, and Sensational novel. Deft analysis of the likes of Hajji Baba, Buffalo Bill, the Phantom Child, Rima, and Sweeney Todd draws the reader into nooks and cul-de-sacs of adventure and mayhem. Surprising omissions from the vast list of entries are comments on sci-fi and the mad scientist stereotype and entries on the phantasms of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Entries are arranged alphabetically and often provide considerable detail. In his foreword, Nevins explains that the book is "subjective, not objective," and "prescriptive rather than descriptive"--claims born out by the degree of critical discussion. Contributing to the book's value to students and researchers are publication data and frequent cross-references. The text disappoints, however, in the omission of source lists. Back matter offers a limited bibliography and no index for surveying authors, titles, series, and publishers. Despite these limitations, this very readable volume is a sound addition to the reference collections on both Victorian and fantasy literature.
http://snurl.com/3g85q
A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman -- All kinds of cool stuff in this one about our senses and how they interact with the natural world. One tidbit comes to mind immediately -- Did you know that when you smell an African Violet, you only can smell it for five seconds because there is something in its scent that overwhelms the smell centers of your brain.
From Publishers Weekly
Physiology and philosophy mesh in this poetic investigation of the five senses; essays explore synesthesia, food taboos, kissing and the power and diversity of music. "Rooted in science, enlivened by her own convincing sense of wonder, Ackerman's essays awaken us to a fresh awareness," said PW.
http://snurl.com/3g87x
The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot -- The grandaddy of all Breakfast of Champion books for me. It could all be the most ludicrous boo-ha, but it's compelling as hell.
From Library Journal
Author Talbot writes that ". . . there is evidence to suggest that our world and everything in it. . . are also only ghostly images, projections from a level of reality so beyond our own it is literally beyond both space and time." Hence, the title of his book. Beginning with the work of physicist David Bohm and neurophysiologist Karl Pribram, both of whom independently arrived at holographic theories or models of the universe, Talbot explains in clear terms the theory and physics of holography and its application, both in science and in explanation of the paranormal and psychic. His theory of reality accommodates this latest thinking in physics as well as many unresolved mind-body questions. This well-written and fascinating study is recommended for science collections.
http://snurl.com/3g890
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places by Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi -- Truly, just about anything written by Alberto Manguel is worth a look. He has that gift that Borges had for culling out the most interesting and bizarre factoids from history and literature. When Manguel was a young man, one of his jobs was reading aloud to the blind Borges, so maybe that's when he picked it up. This book is exactly what it says, and it's a great feat of the imagination.
From Library Journal
Since the publication of the first Dictionary in 1980, Manguel (A History of Reading) and Guadalupi, a translator and editor, have accepted suggestions from readers and continued their own research. The result is this updated version--a book that includes imaginary terrains from ancient Greece to Harry Potter's Hogwarts. The authors have set a few limitations for inclusion: "no heavens or hells, no places in the future, none outside the planet Earth, no pseudonymous places such as Wessex or Manawaka." Even with those seemingly extensive restrictions, however, the dictionary runs over 700 pages. Each place is described in detail as if it physically existed outside the reader's imagination. Entries are cross-referenced and See references are provided, as well as illustrations and maps that are difficult to locate elsewhere. A valuable reference source to accompany fiction collections, this new edition is recommended for all school, public, and academic libraries.
http://snurl.com/3g8au
Poltergeist by Colin Wilson -- Has nothing to do with the movie of the same name. This is a collection of supposedly true life hauntings by the supernatural phenomena known as poltergeists. This book scared the crap out of me when I read it. A couple of nights with the light on even when I was done with it. This is not just a goofy ghost story book. The description of the Bell Witch incident is great.
Amazon.com
Wilson, a prolific author of books on philosophy and the occult, makes a case by case examination of a variety of poltergeist occurrences in an attempt to synthesize a viable explanation for the poltergeist phenomenon. After looking at evidence from cases varied by time and location he comes to the conclusion that poltergeists are spirit energies rather than a form of psychokinesis. His ideas are controversial, but well argued and documented.
http://snurl.com/3g8cd
Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream by Jay Stevens -- A history of LSD -- Hoffmann, the CIA, MK-Ultra, Leary, the hits keep coming in this one (literally and figuratively).
From Library Journal
Stevens has written a gripping account of the use and abuse of mind-altering drugs in recent decades. He explains the fascination of mescaline and psilocybin for psychologists interested in behaviorial change. He documents the insidious role of the CIA in testing mind-control drugs. He traces the convoluted path of Timothy Leary from his position as research psychologist at Harvard to his role as guru advocating the use of LSD to achieve spiritual utopia. He descibes the outwardly placid social climate of the 1950s, and vividly contrasts the dramatic upheavals of the 60s, sketching pulsing portraits of Allen Ginsberg, Aldous Huxley, and Jack Kerouac. Packed with facts, this is social history at its most compelling.
http://snurl.com/3g8dt
At the Bottom of the Garden: A Dark History of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Nymphs and other troubling things by Diane Purkiss --
A really interesting take on the darkness lurking in the origins of fairy tales. For me this was a new way of looking at the classic idea of nature spirits.
Choice, Nov. 2001
" Fascinating. . . Rigorously researched . . .written in a style that is unorthodox for academic studies . . .at once disarming and disconcerting."
http://snurl.com/3g8pg
The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Casteneda -- Without a doubt the craziest fucking book I ever read. From having read some of the other Castaneda books you may think you know what this is about, but, believe me, you have no idea. This will massage your brain. The following PW review hardly even scratches the surface and comes across sounding far more mundane than the book actually is.
From Publishers Weekly
In bestsellers like A Separate Reality and Journey to Ixtlan , Castaneda recounted his purported adventures with Mexican Yaqui Indian sorcerer don Juan Matus. Here he tells how, under don Juan's tutelage, he gained control over his dreams and used dreaming as a launching pad to a pervasive but unseen realm of ancestral spiritual forces, good and evil. He goes through tunnels, enters into the consciousness of trees, meets scouts, emissaries and form-changing blobs of energy. Aided by don Juan's companions and fellow apprentices, Castaneda penetrates a realm of "inorganic beings" who set traps for him and attack him, as if to illustrate don Juan's teaching that consciousness is compelled to grow through life-or-death confrontations. For believers, Castaneda's quest offers a tantalizing glimpse of alternate worlds beyond the rational parameters of our mundane reality.
http://snurl.com/3g8qh
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