WALDEN POND

I'm getting featured at the Oakland, CA bookstore Walden Pond (which I grew up going to) so here is the list of book I'm suggesting to their patrons.

I started to read again actively during the shutdown, I haven't read like this since I was a kid! I read a book a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. I listen to whole albums & frequently whole discographies & settle into the books. It's an amazing & needed break from my computer & my phone!

The Art of Creating - Rick Rubin

This book is like the Tao Te Ching for creativity, approaching creativity as more of an elemental control.

Be Useful - Arnold Schwarzenegger

It's cool to see the difference between the impression one gets from Arnold as a movie star versus the sheer force of will & intelligence he shows in terms of life strategies.

I Gotta Be Me - Sammy Davis Jr.

Sheer talent mixed with perseverance in the face of a world that doesn't care about the individual, I am forever a Sammy Davis Jr. fan.

The Painted Bird - Jerzy Kosinski

A child's maddening journey through WWII Poland & the depravity unleashed from all corners, my edition had a Bosch cover appropriately.

Endurance - Alfred Lansing

Documenting Ernest Shackleton's quest into Antarctica, in 1915. I really dig true stories of exploration & Man Vs. Nature, this one is about as extreme as you can get.

Starting Point - Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki has become much more well-known since I started paying attention to him when Nausicaa came out. He's a very deep thinker & this collection of interviews shows that.

Burning Down The Haus - Tim Mohr

Punk Rock in East Germany & how some kid's spikey-haired quest for freedom helped collapse the Berlin Wall.

Goth: A History - Lol Tolhurst

Founding member of the Cure Lol Tolhurst has been at ground zero for Goth his whole life & he shows a lot of understanding & heart towards the subject.

Manual of Psychomagic - Alejandro Jodorowsky

Jodorowsky has made some of my favorite movies & this shows some of the methodology behind what can be viewed as madness, it's cool to see just how deliberate he is!

The Fourth Turning - William Strauss & Neil Howe

This book looks rightly at the cyclical nature of history & breaks the cycles into "Turnings". Once you think about history in this way, people looking at history linearly are extra maddening!