izard's Booklist

A selection of the books which most influenced the Wizard or which confirmed his ideas. Some of these are out of print, but he considers them well worth getting hold of.

General Introduction
Gravity and levity, (1976) by Alan McGlashan.
The best book to show where the Wizard is "coming from".
Short and very readable.

Deconstructing and Reconstructing Reality
Homo ludens, (1949) by Johan Huizinga.
The inspiration for the Fun Revolution.
A classic by a great historian and philologist.

Intellectuals, (1988) by Paul Johnson.
A renegade intellectual, converted to Roman Catholicism, spills the beans on the revolting personal lives of the men and women we are educated to admire as secular saints. A shocker.

All the trouble in the world, (1994) by P.J.O'Rourke.
A sceptical journalist debunks trendy issues. This book should clear the ground for deeper enquiry.

Understanding media, (1964) by Marshall McLuhan.
Together with the recent Laws of media, edited by his son, this book questions the fundamental assumptions underlying western civilisation which derived from the classical Greeks. It was written as a preparation for entering the Electric Age. Be prepared to be stunned. Tough on the grey cells.

Against method, (1975) by Paul Feyerabend.
A philosopher of science and "theoretical anarchist" demonstrates that "scientific method" is a fiction. Scientific breakthroughs occur in a chaotic way. Essential corrective reading for those who admire science and despise magic. Hard to believe. If you enjoy this, try his last book, Farewell To reason.

The social construction of reality (1966) by Peter L. Berger & Thomas Luckmann and
The social reality of religion, (1969) by Peter L. Berger.
Essential reading to understand the proper meaning of cosmology and the real importance of religion.

The phenomenon of man, (1959) by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
A book which combines scientific evolutionary theory with non-reductionist religious cosmology and which has annoyed both scientists and priests who depend on keeping their specialist fields separate. Vital as an approach to the Wizard's magical comology. Rather heavy going. For a clear summary see Evolution : the theory of Teilhard de Chardin, (1967) by Bernard Delfgaauw.

Societies, evolutionary and comparative perspectives, (1966) by Talcott Parsons.
A condensation by the brilliant structural-functionalist who pioneered the academic discipline of sociology in the USA. By combining insights from such diverse sociologists as Weber and Durkheim he built up a set of propositions about the inter-relationships between psychology, sociology and cultural anthropology which the Wizard used to form the initial core of his cosmology. His major works are The structure of social action (1968) and The social system (1951). A useful book about his ideas is The Social theories of Talcott Parsons, (1976) edited by Max Black.

The Decline of The West
The technological society, (1965) by Jacques Ellul.
First published in French in 1954, this is a pessimistic view of the consequences that are following the adoption of technology as the new religion. He includes rational administration techniques, or bureaucracy, in this general term. The following book by Saul updates the picture.

Voltaire's bastards, (1992) by John Ralston Saul.
Critical analysis of the enlightenment and the postmodern rationalist managerial classes, whom the author sees as "courtesans" devouring the surplus produced by industry and destroying the base which supports them. He draws an analogy with the aristocratic courtiers who hung round Versailles to be near the centre of power whilst neglecting their estates which became impoverished. Essential reading to counter privatisation ideologues.

Small is beautiful, (1973) by E.F.Schumacher.
A more positive book than the above with vital ideas and warning of the dangers of "thinking big". Cecil Parkinson said much the same thing years ago in Parkinson's law.

Psychologists View The Same Scene
The culture of narcissism, (1991) by Christopher Lasch.
Psychological analysis of the rapid degradation of social behaviour in the west. Exceptionally penetrating.

Psychotherapy and existentialism, (1967) by Viktor Frankl.
A lot can be learned from this sensible set of essays from a suprisingly humble member of the new priestly profession. Logotherapy is a brilliant idea.

The soul's code, (1996) by James Hillman.
A complete reappraisal of the power of inherited personality
potential to overcome environmental difficulties, by a radical Jungian.

Battle for the mind, (1959) by William Sargant.
All about brainwashing and thought control by an expert.

The true believer, (1951) by Eric Hoffer.
The ideal companion volume to Sargant's book. The social dynamics of fanaticism and mass movements generally.

Politics Religion Art and Magic
Reflections on the revolution in France,
(1790) by Edmund Burke.
A conservative masterpiece, demonstrating that one does not have to be a "right wing" reactionary just because one is appalled at the violent folly of the "left wing". A book everyone should re-read before the pendulum swings too far to the right.

Political myth, (1972) by Henry Tudor and
Legends, lies & cherished myths of American history, (1988) by Richard Shenkman.
The first, a scholarly account of the necessity for all political peoples to have unverifiable "myths" as their foundations. The second, a witty account of the completely false but beloved tales that provide the same functions for the country founded on "reason" and which arrogantly mocks all the old world "superstitious" myths of origin. Shenkman also wrote I love Paul Revere, whether he rode or not.

Taking leave of God, (1980) by Don Cupitt.
A short and readable presentation of modern theology by an intelligent and sensitive Anglican. Painful for those who want a parental god to be in charge of things.

The cult of the avant-garde artist, (1994) by Donald Kuspit.
Modern art is sick and dying and the artists have become "courtesans". We badly need artists who are therapists.

Myths, dreams and mysteries, (1960) by Mircea Eliade.
The remarkably adaptable, archaic or preliterate peoples lived in a magical cosmology very different from those of agricultural and industrial peoples. We can learn a lot from their myths, dreams and mysteries. Only in this way can East meet West, and the West be awakened from its decadent torpor.

The Rosicrucian enlightenment, (1972) by Frances. A. Yates.
A reputable scholar takes a sympathetic look at a turning point in history where the bad guys (the technology - obsessed scientists) with the help of the Church and the new "divine right"monarchies, destroyed the credibility and livelihoods of the good guys (the metaphysical magicians).

A Rival Cosmology
Sex, ecology & spirituality, (1995) by Ken Wilber.
From the author of A sociable God (1984) and Up from Eden (1983). The first volume of a most important and relevant attempt to construct a hierarchical cosmology; restoring The Great Chain of Being. The Wizard believes this is the only other attempt, apart from his own, to create a cosmological synthesis which is both completely rational and non-reductionist.

Postmodernism
Postmodernism for beginners, (1995) by R. Appignanesi and Chris Garrat.
A wonderful little guide to a field of writing noted for "obscurity masquerading as profundity" and a last hiding place for fundamentalist socialists. Not all postmodernism is disinformation to further the careers of ambitious left-wing academics. What about "the thoroughly postmodern Wizard" for a start.

Androphobia
Who stole feminism?, (1994) by Christina Hoff Sommers.
The recent sensational revelation of the hijacking of the feminist movement by sexist "androphobes", written by a real feminist who took the trouble to check the lies passed off as facts by these megalomaniacal monsters. The androphobes have seized key power positions in the academic world, the political world and the mass media. Posing as feminists, and with massive government grants, they are fast "deconstructing" the fragile institutions of a fairly decent society. Today they are the Nazis, and men are the Jews in their millenarian sexist nightmare.

Europe's inner demons, (1975) by Norman Cohn.
The common belief amongst trendy new-age feminists that there was an "old religion" before Christianity, now called wicca or witchcraft, is shown to be a complete fabrication by obsessed medieval priests. The author is a most eminent and respected scholar and his account of escatological movements in Europe (including Communism and Nazism), The pursuit of the millenium, (1970) is a classic that is vital reading today as we approach the second millenium.

The manipulated man, (1971) by Esther Vilar.
A completely different view of who runs the world. And it's not the men. This is a hard book for men (and feminists) to read without feeling stupid. Very funny.

Capillaria, (1965) by Frigyes Karinthy.
Originally published in Hungary and translated into English in 1978, this book claims to be Gulliver's account of his sixth voyage. A Swiftian fable which makes much the same points as Esther Vilar. At least a man pointed it out first. Small comfort. Even funnier.

The way men think, (1991) by L. Hudson and B. Jacot.
"Intellect, intimacy and the erotic imagination". An excellent non-sexist book by a male-female team. A psychologist and a painter examine and illustrate the different psyches of men and women of all types. Women are not, as Freudians see them, "wounded, castrated men", nor victims in need of financial and institutional help from the evil "patriarchy".

Some Light Reading to Wash Down the Heavy Stuff
The hunting of the Snark : an agony in eight fits, (1876) by Lewis Carroll (annotated).

Erewhon, (1872) by Samuel Butler.

Back to Methuselah, (preface), (1921) by G.B. Shaw.

The man with absolute motion, by Silas Water.

Casey Agonistes, (1973) by Richard McKenna.

The inverted world, (1974) by Christopher Priest.

Smile on the void, (1981) by Stuart Gordon.

The knights of the limits, (1978) by Barrington Bayley.