Morris Berman

"Ecstasy, witchcraft, bewilderment-these ten loving vignettes on scandalous corners of Russian culture, by one of our most seasoned cultural critics, are a tribute to imperishable art even in our catastrophic time."-Caryl Emerson, Professor Emerita of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Princeton UniversityIn terms of literature, music, and film, it would be hard to outdo the sheer genius and creativity of Russia. These things constitute the soul of the nation, and it is this that Morris Berman explores in his latest work, The Soul of Russia. His central argument is that at the heart of this brilliance lies a particular idiosyncratic theme: the peasant-shamanic-folkloric tradition of the Russian people, which these artists, from Pushkin to Tarkovsky, drew upon for their inspiration. It was a "Dionysian" source, a nonrational one, and it endowed Russian creative work with what we would have to call vibrancy. Berman presents ten Russian artists who have left their indelible imprint on our collective consciousness. Pushkin offers a supernatural puzzle that Russian scholars are still trying to solve to this day. Gogol tells a tale of a man who wakes up to discover he has lost his nose, and goes in search of it-while his nose has simultaneously taken on a life of its own. Andrei Bely, in Petersburg, explains the revolution of 1905 not through traditional sociological or historical analysis, but by means of a surreal panorama of Oedipal events. Chekhov wittily explores the erotic properties of food, while Diaghilev shocks Europe with the great Vaslav Nijinsky and the Ballets Russes. Composing for this radical dance company, Stravinsky manages to alter the face of music forever. Mikhail Bulgakov offers one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, The Master and Margarita, and Tarkovsky responds to Stanley Kubrick's famous 2001: A Space Odyssey by coming up with Solaris, a film based not on superficial American techno-fetishism but on questions of love, reality, and human identity. The Soul of Russia is a feast for the mind, but also for the senses-a book that readers will want to delve into more than once. This book is also available from Echo Point Books as a hardcover (ISBN 1648373623).

"Ecstasy, witchcraft, bewilderment-these ten loving vignettes on scandalous corners of Russian culture, by one of our most seasoned cultural critics, are a tribute to imperishable art even in our catastrophic time."-Caryl Emerson, Professor Emerita of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Princeton UniversityIn terms of literature, music, and film, it would be hard to outdo the sheer genius and creativity of Russia. These things constitute the soul of the nation, and it is this that Morris Berman explores in his latest work, The Soul of Russia. His central argument is that at the heart of this brilliance lies a particular idiosyncratic theme: the peasant-shamanic-folkloric tradition of the Russian people, which these artists, from Pushkin to Tarkovsky, drew upon for their inspiration. It was a "Dionysian" source, a nonrational one, and it endowed Russian creative work with what we would have to call vibrancy. Berman presents ten Russian artists who have left their indelible imprint on our collective consciousness. Pushkin offers a supernatural puzzle that Russian scholars are still trying to solve to this day. Gogol tells a tale of a man who wakes up to discover he has lost his nose, and goes in search of it-while his nose has simultaneously taken on a life of its own. Andrei Bely, in Petersburg, explains the revolution of 1905 not through traditional sociological or historical analysis, but by means of a surreal panorama of Oedipal events. Chekhov wittily explores the erotic properties of food, while Diaghilev shocks Europe with the great Vaslav Nijinsky and the Ballets Russes. Composing for this radical dance company, Stravinsky manages to alter the face of music forever. Mikhail Bulgakov offers one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, The Master and Margarita, and Tarkovsky responds to Stanley Kubrick's famous 2001: A Space Odyssey by coming up with Solaris, a film based not on superficial American techno-fetishism but on questions of love, reality, and human identity. The Soul of Russia is a feast for the mind, but also for the senses-a book that readers will want to delve into more than once. This book is also available from Echo Point Books as a paperback (ISBN 1648373631).

A Fascinating Look at Italian Creative GeniusItalian culture might rightly be described as the pride and glory of the Western world. But how did this come about? What is the secret of Italian creative genius? In this short but captivating study, Morris Berman argues that the key to it is the Italian ability to inject "space," or movement, into static situations--whether in art, film, politics, or religion. In doing so, Italians from St. Francis to Federico Fellini were able to revolutionize their arenas of activity, and in so doing, the worlds in which they lived. And all of these legacies, as Professor Berman demonstrates, are still with us today."Morris Berman's Genio: The Story of Italian Genius is an intriguingly adroit introduction to some important facets of Italian genius. Eschewing the traditional names we so often see listed in these types of books, Berman has chosen those names of individuals who, famous that they are, may not be the first to come to mind. Hence Bernini and Caravaggio instead of Michelangelo and Leonardo; Fellini for sure, but we also now have Marinetti; Machiavelli, of course, but now we also have Gramsci; and, dulcis in fundo, St. Francis is here to represent a more kinder Catholicism. With this book, the English speaker is introduced to a more broad panorama of Italy's history of its genio " -Anthony Julian Tamburri, Dean, John D. Calandra Italian American InstituteOther thoroughly engaging works by Morris Berman, available from Echo Point Books, include Spinning Straw Into Gold: Straight Talk for Troubled Times-one man's meditation on the meaning of his life to date (ISBN 1635610532 hardcover); Coming to Our Senses-a provocative analysis of the relationship between culture, mind, and body in the history of Western society (ISBN 1626542929 hardcover; 1626542910 paperback), Are We There Yet ?-which analyzes what has gone wrong with the United States since its inception, and the problems we now face as a result (ISBN 1635610567 hardcover), and The Heart of the Matter-a serendipitous romp through historical milestones that will thoroughly amuse you (ISBN 1635619319).Genio is also available from Echo Point Books in hardcover (ISBN 1626548838).

Italian culture might rightly be described as the pride and glory of the Western world. But how did this come about? What is the secret of Italian creative genius? In this short but captivating study (complete with 21 illustrations, 14 in color), Morris Berman argues that the key to it is the Italian ability to inject "space," or movement, into static situations--whether in art, film, politics, or religion. In doing so, Italians from St. Francis to Federico Fellini were able to revolutionize their arenas of activity, and in so doing, the worlds in which they lived. And all of these legacies, as Professor Berman demonstrates, are still with us today. "Morris Berman's Genio: The Story of Italian Genius is an intriguingly adroit introduction to some important facets of Italian genius. Eschewing the traditional names we so often see listed in these types of books, Berman has chosen those names of individuals who, famous that they are, may not be the first to come to mind. Hence Bernini and Caravaggio instead of Michelangelo and Leonardo; Fellini for sure, but we also now have Marinetti; Machiavelli, of course, but now we also have Gramsci; and, dulcis in fundo, St. Francis is here to represent a more kinder Catholicism. With this book, the English speaker is introduced to a more broad panorama of Italy's history of its genio " -Anthony Julian Tamburri, Dean, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute Other engaging works by Morris Berman include: Spinning Straw Into Gold: Straight Talk for Troubled Times (one man's meditation on the meaning of his life to date); Coming to Our Senses (a provocative analysis of the relationship between culture, mind, and body in the history of Western society), and Are We There Yet? (which analyzes what has gone wrong with the United States since its inception, and the problems we now face as a result).

Neurotic Beauty is a remarkable reevaluation of Japan's role in the modern world. It includes a new assessment of the events leading up to the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima, and of the potential role of Japanese philosophy in creating a dynamic approach to human nature and our understanding of reality. The book also shows the interrelatedness of various facets of Japanese history and society, including psychological orientation, pop culture, and Japan's vibrant craft tradition. Finally, it concludes with a possible prediction, that whereas the United States will not be able to escape from its neoliberal economic categories and its commitment to a self-defeating philosophy of "growth," Japan might surprise us, and turn out to be the frontrunner in the development of post-capitalist alternatives in the 21stcentury. Written in a personal and accessible style, the book is likely to provide a focus for debate about issues of economy, ecology, and sustainability for years to come.

Are We There Yet? is a collection of essays grouped around three major themes: the collapse of the American empire; the question of individual identity; and some thoughts regarding the nature of a post-collapse world. The book analyzes what has gone wrong with the United States since its inception, and the problems we now face as a result. It discuss the elements of a healthy human identity--elements that are largely absent from the American scene. And it poses alternatives to all of this, models already present in the consciousness of a few, and which, post-collapse, may possibly be realized several decades down the line. In the course of this discussion, the author reviews the pathology of smart phones and related electronic gadgets; the phenomenon of Hillary Clinton as an archetypal American disaster, and of Joe Bageant as an unsung hero; and the visionary work of scholars such as Pitirim Sorokin and Lewis Mumford. All in all, Are We There Yet? will have you thinking about what the possibilities are for achieving some semblance of sanity in a world completely out of kilter.

An ambitious and provocative analysis of the relationship between culture, mind, and body in the history of Western society, Morris Berman's influential classic Coming to our Senses has been engrossing audiences with its carefully-researched and thoughtful exploration of somatic experience for decades. Finally back in print for a new generation of readers, Berman's treatise on the West's historic denial of physicality is relevant as ever in a society increasingly plagued by addiction, depression, and distraction. Berman deftly weaves threads of history, philosophy, and psychoanalysis into an elegant and accessible argument about the ways our physical experience of the world relates to the culture in which we exist. To make his case, Berman draws on studies of infant behavior with mirrors; analyzes symbolic expressions of human-animal relationships ranging from cave-wall etchings to Disney cartoons; investigates esoteric breathing techniques and occult rituals; and examines the nature of creativity. Berman also illuminates Christianity's origins in early Jewish meditation techniques, explains how the notion of romantic love evolved out of medieval Christian heresy, how modern science grew out of Renaissance mysticism, and how Nazism was the most recent episode in a recurring cycle of orthodoxy and heresy. A demanding and radical work of history, social criticism, and philosophy, Coming to our Senses is a beautifully-written and vastly important book. Readers interested in related titles from Morris Berman will also want to see: Are We There Yet (ISBN: 1635610567), Spinning Straw Into Gold (ISBN: 1635610532).

An ambitious and provocative analysis of the relationship between culture, mind, and body in the history of Western society, Morris Berman's influential classic Coming to our Senses has been engrossing audiences with its carefully-researched and thoughtful exploration of somatic experience for decades. Finally back in print for a new generation of readers, Berman's treatise on the West's historic denial of physicality is relevant as ever in a society increasingly plagued by addiction, depression, and distraction. Berman deftly weaves threads of history, philosophy, and psychoanalysis into an elegant and accessible argument about the ways our physical experience of the world relates to the culture in which we exist. To make his case, Berman draws on studies of infant behavior with mirrors; analyzes symbolic expressions of human-animal relationships ranging from cave-wall etchings to Disney cartoons; investigates esoteric breathing techniques and occult rituals; and examines the nature of creativity. Berman also illuminates Christianity's origins in early Jewish meditation techniques, explains how the notion of romantic love evolved out of medieval Christian heresy, how modern science grew out of Renaissance mysticism, and how Nazism was the most recent episode in a recurring cycle of orthodoxy and heresy. A demanding and radical work of history, social criticism, and philosophy, Coming to our Senses is a beautifully-written and vastly important book. Readers interested in related titles from Morris Berman will also want to see: Are We There Yet (ISBN: 1635610567), Spinning Straw Into Gold (ISBN: 1635610532).

A critical evaluation of the current American economy by the author of The Twilight of American Culture predicts that the United States will suffer a financial crisis in the wake of war costs and debts, compromises to democratic beliefs, and propaganda. Reprint.

The third book in Morris Berman's much acclaimed trilogy on the evolution of human consciousness, Wandering God continues his earlier work which garnered such praise as "solid lessons in the history of ideas" (KIRKUS Reviews), "filled with piquant details" (Common Boundary), and "an informative synthesis and a remarkably friendly, good-natured jeremiad" (The Village Voice). Here, in a remarkable discussion of our hunter-gatherer ancestry and the "paradoxical" mode of perception that it involved, Berman shows how a sense of alertness, or secular/sacred immediacy, subsequently got buried by the rise of sedentary civilization, religion, and vertical power relationships.In an integrated tour de force, Wandering God explores the meaning of Paleolithic art, the origins of social inequality, the nature of cross-cultural child rearing, the relationship between women and agriculture, and the world view of present-day nomadic peoples, as well as the emergence of "paradoxical" consciousness in the philosophical writings of the twentieth century.

"Morris Berman's book addresses what I consider to be the most important topic at our present moment in history. He is searching for the underpinnings of a new world view that can give rise to a culture capable of relating gently and self-sustainingly to the earth."-Frederick FerrÉ The Reenchantment of the World is a perceptive study of our scientific consciousness and a cogent and forceful challenge to its supremacy. Focusing on the rise of the mechanistic idea that we can know the natural world only by distancing ourselves from it, Berman shows how science acquired its controlling position in the consciousness of the West. He analyzes the holistic, animistic tradition-destroyed in the wake of Scientific Revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries-which viewed man as a participant in the cosmos, not as an isolated observer. Arguing that the holistic world view must be revived in some credible form before we destroy our society and our environment, he explores the possibilities for a consciousness appropriate to the modern era. Ecological rather than animistic, this new world view would be grounded in the real and intimate connection between man and nature.