Book-Tag Meme

Laura at a mindful distraction has tagged me in the most recent tag meme to circulate the blogosphere. This one is on books, so I'm happy to play.

One book that changed your life?
The Atman Project by Ken Wilber. I was studying comparative religion as part of my master's program and reading a lot of Mircea Eliade when a friend gave me Wilber's book because he was reducing his load for a move. Wilber gave me a whole new context for all that material from the world's religions. And he provided a ladder one could climb toward greater complexity and compassion and less egoism.

One book you have read more than once?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. When I was in college, I generally read all four books in the trilogy (I think there are five now) during dead week instead of studying. It really helped with the stress.

One book you would want on a desert island?
Complete Works of Shakespeare. What more could you want: comedy, drama, poetry, and history and all of it done with multiple layers of meaning and symbolism.

One book that made you laugh?
Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore. One of the funniest books I have ever read -- even moreso than The Hitchhiker's Guide. You don't want Old Man Coyote to seek you out and try to fix your life -- unless you're ready to have everything turned upside down.

One book that made you cry?
A lot of fiction has done this, but Broken Open by Elizabeth Lesser had a lot of real-life stories of hard things people have gone through -- and grown from -- that just broke me open. I found this book when Lesser (co-founder of Omega Institute in New York) was on Integral Naked with Ken Wilber.

One book you wish you had written?
Ulysses by James Joyce. So many people think of it as the greatest novel ever written, but what makes me wish I had written it is the brilliance and education it took to create such a masterpiece. Each of the 18 chapters (representing the 18 hours through which the novel takes place) is written in the style of a specific genre, and the novel is so precise in the time and movement of characters that people can actually recreate the action of the book on Bloom's Day in Dublin (June 16). Joyce was living in Paris at the time he wrote the book and had been for many years. [Molly Bloom's soliloquy is a masterpiece on its own -- the whole chapter is 3 sentences.]

One book you wish had never been written?
N/A -- as much as some books scare me, I would never refuse their right to be written.

One book you are currently reading?
I'm actually reading four or five books right now, but I'm most psyched about The Never Ending Quest by Clare Graves (edited by Chris Cowan and Natasha Todorovic). The book was never finished in Graves' lifetime, so the text is rough, but it's brilliant.

One book you've been meaning to read?
Words of My Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche. I've been meaning to read this for years and I just found a copy in a used bookstore, so I'm impatient to get started.

Alrighty then. It seems the thing to do is to tag some other people -- no one is obligated to play if they don't want to.

So Jay, Bill, Steve, Aaron, and Mike are all tagged -- you guys are it.

Please feel free to share your books in the comments -- I'm always interested in which books have touched people.

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