Book Haul-o-Ween

My husband and I were in Chicago on October 27th-29th. Before we left, I wanted to pay another visit to Selected Works, the used bookstore in The Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue. You may remember Selected Works from this 2012 blog post:

That Time I Tried Out for Jeopardy!

In 2012, I lugged the ponderous tome The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy on the train, and was stuck carrying it for the rest of the trip. This time, I brought two books which, even taken together, were still smaller: Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse, and The Last Days of Magic, the Doctor Strange graphic novel. And we shipped our dirty laundry et al, home in a U.P.S. box so we didn't have to schlep it everywhere.

Today I learned the bookstore cat's name. It is Hodge. This is Hodge examining one of the books I intended to purchase.

I said in 2012 that I thought he was a Russian blue, but now I don't think he is. I think he's just gray, like my dad's cat Bucky.

In 2012, I found a neat old paperback about the film adaptations of Ernest Hemingway's short stories. I tried to find more Hemingway nonfiction, but I didn't see anything that interested me. Instead, I found these four things.

I'm already familiar with "The Wasp in a Wig" thanks to Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice books (I own two different editions). I still like to own as many Lewis Carroll volumes as possible.

(Also, I may have ordered myself a pair of Alice in Wonderland socks while I was buying my mother's birthday present from Out of Print Clothing today.)

As we learned from the Willie Lynch Speech incident, there are a good deal of quotes out there in circulation that were never actually uttered. Often, the authors contend, these false quotes have polemic purposes. Some of these false quotes drive the conspiracy culture of today. This book was published in 1989, but (perhaps unsurprisingly) many of these fake quotes are still being quoted today by people who have no idea they were wrongly attributed, taken far out of context, or made up of pure bullshittery. It's rather fascinating.

I apologize for the low-res picture. It's from Goodreads.

I may have caught Pericles: Prince of Tyre, The Tempest, and Richard III this year, but there is still Shakespeare out there for me to conquer. I'll never reach Jillian Keenan's level, but this should be a good basic reference book.

It may seem that I indulged myself quite a bit in the bookshop. I did. We did a lot of indulging when we weren't visiting the organ transplant team at Northwestern University hospital, though. We saw Blue Man Group and went to the AMC Dine-In Theatre, where we got to eat a full meal, including cocktails, while watching the film version of Dan Brown's Inferno. We didn't get to see the ending of Inferno, unfortunately, because of a very rude lady, but that will have to be a story for another day.

Who is Joseph Campbell? (And Why Writers Should Care) - Guest Post by Karma Bennett

Joseph Campbell: The Greatest Mythologist of All time?

If you look at the history of psychoanalysis, most people think of Freud, followed by Jung, and then a bunch of less important scholars wrote stuff that barely honored a paragraph in their college textbooks. Joseph Campbell is the big name that followed in the footsteps of Jung, but his work is glossed over in those hefty 101 courses because he didn't study psychology, but mythology.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Jung's idea of the collective unconscious, but just to bring everyone up to speed, it's the idea that there are certain common ideas that mankind returns to over and over again. This can be as common as a fear of snakes or as complex as water as a symbol for sexual desires. What Campbell did was look at the stories that mankind has shared throughout the ages and search for common themes. What he discovered has shocked and offended many theologists and proven fruitful for many writers.

The Same Old Song and Dance

You've heard the idea that writers tell the same stories over and over. Campbell takes this a step further and shows that when it comes to the great epics, there is only one story, the monomyth, that is repeated endlessly throughout the course of human struggle. Campbell's many exhaustive books explain how the story of Christ is the same story as the story of Dionysus is the same story as some African tribal creation myth is the same story as Star Wars, etc. In typical Campbell fashion, he describes his own work by a reference to the Vedas: "Truth is one, the sages speak of it by many names."

The monomyth is also known as "the hero's journey." In all epic tales, and in every religion, the same thematic ideas are explored. For any writer who wants to write The Great American Novel (or French or Indian, natch) having such a blueprint is obviously of interest.

The Hero's Journey: An Example

An example of an element of the monomyth is "Refusal of the Call." At the beginning of any great epic, the hero will at first refuse to go on the journey in the first place. You'll see this in romantic comedies when the lead hunk determines he's not going to phone the girl. You see it in the cop flicks when the detective crosses his arms and claims he's not going to go after that big dangerous case. As readers, we know the protagonist will change her mind because if she doesn't, there is no story.

So why bother with the "refusal of the call"? Because deep down we know that many people never do great things because they never bother to try. They are stuck in an infantile state. Campbell says, "one is bound in by the walls of childhood; the father and mother stand as threshold guardians, and the timorous soul, fearful of some punishment, fails to make the passage through the door and come to birth in the world without." In this ten-page section, Campbell gives examples of The Refusal of the Call from: Proverbs, King Minos, The Hound of Heaven, the story of Apollo and Daphne, The Frog Prince, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Brynhild, Little Briar-rose (Sleeping Beauty), The Thousand Nights and One Night, Lot's salty wife, the tale of the Wandering Jew, yoga, Otta Rank's Art and Artist,The adventure of the Prince Kamar in Arabian Nights, The Koran, and examples of dreams from those undergoing psychoanalysis. Phew!

What Joseph Campbell is Not

There are many who misunderstand Campbell's work as a shortcut for writers who want to "cheat" their way to the best sellers list. For example, I recently read this in dismissive response to a Reddit post asking why JK Rowling is so popular:

she imitated Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, and both of those were based on Joseph Campbell's mythological research which basically says most successful myths follow the same structure:

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth

So basically it is all applied mythology research.

This understanding of Campbell is entirely backwards. The idea is that great writers will come back to the same themes over and over because all humans are driven by the same basic instincts: the search for meaning, fear of death, coming of age, and motherhood/fatherhood to name a few. Thus when someone writes a story that involves a rebirth, it is possible they were copying the ideas of Joseph Campbell or that they "stole" it from The Bible. But it is just as likely that they were driven to that theme by the secret desire that all people have to taste immortality.

There is really no way to write a modern story and "copy" Joseph Campbell without creating something uniquely your own. His research often describes things like the storyline in ancient Babylonian ceremonial dinnerware. Not exactly a cut-and-paste template for writing success. It's more of a foundation for understanding why some stories are so meaningful to humans that they become part of the cultural narrative.

Now you could read a book like Save the Cat to find out the formula that has been behind great stories for the last thirty years. Or you could read Joseph Campbell to understand the formula that has created legendary stories that have been retold for thousands of years.

Where to Begin?

The most commonly recommended Campbell tome is The Hero with a Thousand Faces (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell), though any of his books will introduce you to the theme of the monomyth. If you are particularly interested in Eastern religions, you may prefer to start with Eastern Mythology. If you're Pagan, you may be more interested in Occidental Mythology. If, horror of horrors, you hate to read, he also created a popular PBS series with XXXXX. There is a book that goes with this, The Power of Myth, for those who want a quick read with full-color photos. Another interesting work is Creative Mythology. This tome deals describes what makes artists and what makes their audiences respond. There is also a book for writers that describes Campbell's work, but I say why go derivative when you can read the original?

As scholarly works go, it can be tiresome at times. But at other times, Campbell's writing can provide powerful insights into stories you thought you knew. For example, recall the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. When this story was taught in seventh grade, the premise mentioned was that the Labyrinthe was built to hide the Minotaur--a bastard monster born out of the shame that King Mino's wife got busy with a bull. The plot of such a story struck me at the time as absurd and meaningless. But in The Hero With A Thousand Faces Campbell explains that the queen's lust was inspired by Poseidon. He'd granted the bull to King Minos as proof that he was worthy of the throne. The king was supposed to sacrifice the bull, but seeing how fine it was; he kept it. Thus the wife's lust was a punishment for King Mino's greed. Today many believe that politicians serve a higher calling (if not God than Nation) and that they should set aside their selfish desires and do what's best for their constituency. The story of King Minos and the creation of the Labyrinth is is neither absurd nor meaningless. It is a familiar theme: the consequences of political corruption.

If you have ever wondered why we return to over and over to narratives of journeys or initiation or redemption, Joseph Campbell will be your answer. If you're interested in gaining a fundamental understanding of the great myths of the English language, reading a thousand pages of Joseph Campbell is still faster than reading every classic in the public domain. If you struggle to write meaningful plots, reading Campbell may show you more than what to write. It can show you why the plot you have written has failed to capture the reader at the most basic instinctual level. Instead of teaching you to craft narratives based on recent box office trends, Campbell's work will teach you to understand the seeds of our most secret wishes, returning nightmares and haunting dreams. That's the stuff of great fiction. ~

Author bio: Karma is a freelance writer and publicist in Oakland, CA. She writes about politics, publishing, and music at http://futureisfiction.com. You may find her photographing graffiti, eating Mexican food, or singing and dancing along with the Muzac at the grocery store.

Photo credits:
Snake -Furryscaly
Dionysus - public domain
Sleeping Beauty - public domain
Harry Potter Patronus - Frostnova
Minotaur - public domain

Let the Lupercalia Begin!

I love the word “Lupercalia.” It’s an old word, older than the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. In very ancient times, the Romans celebrated the Lupercalia over several days in the middle of February. It’s a festival so ancient, its original meaning has been largely lost. One guess is that it celebrated Lupercus, the god who protected shepherds’ flocks from wolves. Another guess is that a wolf-goddess, called Lupa (which simply means she-wolf in Latin), was worshiped. The she-wolf was honored for having nurtured the infants Romulus and Remus, who went on to found Rome. Lupa was honored with animal sacrifices in her sacred caves.

The Lupercalia fell in the midst of the month devoted to Juno Februata, meaning Juno (the Queen of Heaven and goddess of marriage) of the fever of love. Perhaps because of the Lupercalia’s association with the goddess of conjugal relationships, the wolf-goddess’s feast was also celebrated with erotic games. Young participants in the Lupercalia chose their partners in these games by choosing slips of paper…the ancient ancestors of modern valentines.

Iūnō Rēgina Deōrum

It’s unclear how the Christian saint Valentine became associated with the Lupercalia. Catholic resources suggest there was more than one Roman martyr named Valentine. One Valentine is said to have been a priest who married Christian couples against the wishes of the Roman Emperor Claudius II. He was said to be executed on February 14, 270 CE. A particularly romantic version of the legend says Valentine, imprisoned awaiting his execution, fell in love with his jailer’s daughter and sent her a love letter signed “From your Valentine.” This is probably just a sanitized explanation of the lust notes generated by the Lupercalia, though.

This gives me an idea for a new m/m/f romance: two hot young Roman studs at the Lupercalia, only one slip of paper left…looks like they’ll have to share their blushing maiden. Let the Lupercalia begin!

More Lupercalia fun:
The History Channel on Valentine's Day
10 Most Romantic Valentine’s Day Foods (link no longer works)
10 Most Romantic Literary Classics

Lovely, Romantic Russian-Inspired Fairy Tale

It’s been over a hundred years since one of my maternal great-great grandfathers left Russia to avoid serving in the Tzar’s army. I’m still fascinated with Russian, and indeed all of Eastern European folklore. Anna Kashina puts Russian folklore to excellent use in her romantic fantasy/epic novel Ivan and Marya (Drollerie Press, 2010).

It’s not an epic on the scale of Lord of the Rings, though like Tolkien did with Anglo-Saxon folklore in his novels, Kashina weaves the kind of tale my Russian ancestors would have told around their hearths. It’s more on the scale of The Hobbit, but while it may not be as sweeping as War and Peace, the fast-paced storytelling keeps the pages turning. I read it in one sitting.

Ivan and Marya is the classic hero’s journey. Ivan (nicknamed “The Fool”) is on a quest to fulfill a prophecy. He and his sponsor, Wolf, seek to bring an end to the human sacrifice perpetrated by the Tzar, Kashchey and his daughter Marya in the name of the god Kupalo.

Young Ivan (a stock character in Russian folk literature, though he never feels like it in Kashina’s telling) is the sort of everyman hero the reader can easily identify with. What makes this story so compelling is rooting for Ivan to complete his perilous, virtually impossible tasks.

Marya, though she is beautiful with her long black hair and pale skin, is compelled by being the priestess of Kupalo to be cold-hearted, incapable of love. Ivan isn’t sure if he wants her love. He wants to complete his task; the wildflower the peasants call Ivan and Marya is an omen to him, a symbol of hope.



The theme of the yearly human sacrifice is a common one in ancient Pagan storytelling. In the Celtic world (as in Mists of Avalon), the sacrifice is a young man who may father as many children as he likes before going to his noble death. In this version, the sacrifice must be a female and a virgin, recalling the Greco-Roman myth of Persephone/Proserpina. The virgin sacrifice is a close folkloric cousin of the straw effigy (sometimes named Marzana) that is, even today, “drowned” in Slavic countries as a rite of spring. The name of the death god in this novel, Kupalo, recalls the modern Slavic summer solstice holiday of Ivan Kupala…John the Baptist. The virgin sacrifice’s drowning in a sacrificial pool was replaced and Christianized with the rite of baptism.

Even if the ancient origins of the myths bore you, though, you’ll enjoy Anna Kashina’s storytelling. She makes it both fresh and exciting. There’s some adult content (this is a romance, after all), so this enchanting fairy tale is not for very young readers.

If you enjoy this book, you might also like Keith Miller’s The Book of Flying, Whispers in the Dark by Marisa Quinn, and The Raspberry Girl by VictoriaSelene Skye Deme.