SUGGESTED FICTION, ETC.

Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian: A Novel, Art by Ellen Fornoy (New York: Little Brown,  2007) ("'I used to think the world was broken down by tribes,' I said. 'By black and white. By Indian and white. But I know that isn't true. The world is only broken into two tribes. The people who are assholes and the people who are not.'" Id. at 176.).

J. G. Ballard, The Day of Creation: A Novel (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1987).

Emma Donoghue, Frog Music (New York: Little Brown, 2014) (See Patrick McGrath, "Gomorrah by the Bay," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 5/4/2014.).

Kimberly Elkins, What Is Visible: A Novel (New York: Twelve, 2014) (See Barbara Kingsolver, "The Way She Saw It," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 6/8/2014.).

Jules Feiffer, Kill My Mother: A Graphic Novel (New York: Liveright, 2013) (See Laura Lippman, "Them Dames," NYT Book Review, Sunday,  8/17/2014.).

Joshua Ferris, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour: A Novel (New York: Little, Brown, 2014).

Charles Jackson, The Sunnier Side and Other Stories (New York: Vintage Books, 2013).

Ha Jin, Between Silences: A Voice From China (Chicago & London: U. of Chicago Press, 1990).

Ha Jin, In the Pond: A Novel (New York: Vintage International/Vintage Books, 2000).

Ha Jin, Ocean of Words: Stories (New York: Vintage International/Vintage Books, 1998).

Ha Jin, Waiting: A Novel (New York: Pantheon, 1999).

Ha Jin, Under the Red Flag: Stories by Ha Jin (Hanover, NH: Zoland Books, 1999).

Ha Jin, The Writer as Migrant (Chicago & London: U. of Chicago Press, 2008).

Ward Just, American Romantic: A Novel (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014) ("Listen. Listen damn hard. Listen to every nuance. Take notes, if they agree to note-taking, which I doubt. [] Go in a skeptic, stay a skeptic. Look on it as a visit to an especially disagreeable lawyer whom you might learn something from. How's your memory?" Id. at 60. "American can be anything . . . They take pride in their makeovers, a nation of actors, or should I say playwrights, each examining her own story. That's the myth, anyhow. A nation in an eternal state of rewrite." Id. at 142. Also, see, Gail Godwin, "Conrad in Vietnam," NYT Book Review, Sunday. 6/8/2014.).

A. L. Kennedy, All The Rage: Stories (Boston & New York: New Harvest/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014) (See Molly Young, "Love Is Strange," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 7/27/2014.).

Lily King, Euphoria: A Novel (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2014) (See Barbara Kingsolver, "The Way She Saw It," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 6/8/2014.).

Edan Lepucki, California: A Novel (New York: Little, Brown, 2014).

Francesca Marciano, The Other Language: Stories (New York: Pantheon, 2014) (From " The Presence of Men": "'Yoga. You didn't give that up yet, did you?' It's not like I'm doing heroin,' she said breezily, yet she regretted having mentioned the word yoga. He'd always found the subject--with its obsessive concerns about hips, knees and shoulder openings, breathing techniques, mantras and especially the smugness that came with an advanced practice--deeply irritating." Id. at 111, 152. Also, see Erica Wagner, "Border Crossings," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 6/8/2014.).

Peter Matthiessen, At Play in the Field of the Lord: A Novel (New York: Vintage Books, 1987) ("So long as he kept moving he would be all right. For men like himself the ends of the earth had this great allure: that one was never asked about a past or a future but could live as freely as an animal, close to the gut, and day by day by day." Id. at 2.).

Dinaw Mengestu, All Our Names: A Novel (New York: Knopf, 2014).

Dinaw Mengestu, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears: A Novel (New York: Riverhead Books, 2007) ("What was it my father used to say? A bird stuck between two branches gets bitten on both wings. I would like to add my own saying to the list now, Father: a man stuck between two worlds lives and dies alone." Id. at 228.).
.
Dinaw Mengestu, How to Read the Air (New York: Riverhead Press, 2010).

Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Dust: A Novel (New York: Knopf, 2014) (See Taiye Selasi, "The Unvanquished," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 3/2/2014.).

Helen Oyeyemi, Boy, Snow, Bird: A Novel (New York: Riverhead, 2014) ("Most of her heroes are colored . . . like me. Aunt Mia says she didn't go out looking for colored heroes. She says that's just the way it worked out. Mom and Aunt Mia murmured to each other and I studied the faces of journalists who spoke out against inequalities and wouldn't shut up even when people threatened to kill them. If someone threatens to kill you for speaking up about something they've done, they must be feeling their guilt. So maybe that's how you know you're on the right track." Id. at 151. "Very rew people can watch others endure humiliation without recognizing the part they play in increasing it." Id. at 223. Also, see Porochista Khakpour, "White Lies" NYT Book Review, Sunday, 3/2/2014.).

Brian Payton, The Wind Is Not a River: A Novel (New York: Ecco, 2014) ("Some men have the great misfortune to stand at life's continental divide and see that the land beyond is barren. There is no hope of turning back. What does one do with this view? It takes the rest of the day, but then the answer descends on him like a revelation. . . . The wind is not a river. . . . And our suffering? This to shall pass. The wind is not a river." Id. at 186.).

Julie Schumacher, Dear Committee Members: A Novel (New York: Doubleday, 2014).

Akhil Sharma, Family Life: A Novel (New York: Norton, 2014).

BEING A WRITER/ARTIST IN THE REAL WORLD

Ann Patchett, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage  (New York: Harper, 2013) (From "Nonfiction, an Introduction": "The tricky thing about being a writer, or about being any kind of artist, is that in addition to making art you also have to make a living." Id. at 1, 1.).

MINDFULNESS, COMPASSION, BUDDHISM, YOGA

Analayo, Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization (Cambridge, England: Windhorse Publications, 2003) ("Mindfulness and the proper way of putting it into practice are certainly topics of central relevance for anyone keen to tread the Buddha's path to liberation. Yet for a proper understanding and implementation of mindfulness meditation the original instructions by the Buddha on satipatthana needs to be taken into consideration." Id. at 1.).

Bernie Clark, From the Gita to the Grail: Exploring Yoga Stories and Western Myths (Indianapolis, IN:  Blue River Press, 2014).

Joseph Goldstein, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening (Boulder, CO: Sounds True, 2013).

Geeta S. Iyengar, Yoga: A Gem for Women (Spokane, WA: Timeless Books, 2013) ("We are missing the gold if we do asanas as a physical practice only." Id. at ii.).

Cyndi Lee, Yoga Body, Buddha Mind (New York: Riverhead Books, 2004).

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu & Fabio Andrico, Tibetan Yoga Movement: The Art and Practice of Yantra Yoga (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books; Arcidosso (GR), Italy: Shang Shung Publications, 2012).

Michael Roach, The Garden: A Parable (New York: Doubleday, 2000).

Marshall B. Rosenberg, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, 2d. ed. (Encinitas, CA: Puddle Dancer Press, 2003).

Mark Singleton & Ellen Goldberg, eds., Gurus of Modern Yoga (Oxford & New York: Oxford U. Press, 2014).

MY FIRST EXCURSION INTO THE FICTION SUB-GENRE STEAMPUNK

From the box-cover: "The Parasol Protectorate is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking."

Gail Carriger, Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate: Book the First) (New York: Orbit/Hatchette Book Group. 2009).

Gail Carriger, Changeless (The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Second) (New York: Orbit/Hatchette Book Group. 2010).

Gail Carriger, Blameless (The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Third) (New York: Orbit/Hatchette Book Group. 2010).

Gail Carriger, Heartless (The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Fourth) (New York: Orbit/Hatchette Book Group. 2011).

Gail Carriger, Timeless (The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Fifth) (New York: Orbit/Hatchette Book Group. 2012).

READING GEORG FEURERSTEIN ON YOGA

Georg Feuerstein, The Path of Yoga: An Essential Guide to Its Principles and Practices (Boston & London: Shambhala, 2011).

Georg Feuerstein, Holy Madness: The Shock Tactics and Radical Teachings of Crazy-Wise Adepts, Holy Fools, and Rascal Gurus (New York: Paragon House, 1991).

Georg Feuerstein, Sacred Sexuality: Living the Vision of the Erotic Spirit (Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1992).

Georg Feuerstein, Yoga Morality: Ancient Teachings at a Time of Global Crisis (Prescott, AZ: Hohn Press, 2007) ("The average Westerner today has little or no interest in sacred rituals. The daily routine chores along with watching or reading the news, TV entertainment, regular physical fitness sessions, scheduled visits to the hairdresser, and the weekend spectator game have become substitute rituals. Even many of those who have won through to a spiritual way of life find rituals tedious and outmoded. [T]hey fail to see the advantage of involving the body in the spiritual process. Be that as it may, the discipline of self-transcendence does not inevitably involve ritual. But it demands that we in fact commit to consistent acts of self-sacrifice. Metaphorically, we must be willing to ascend our own funeral pyre or, to put it differently in traditional terms, sever our own head with the sword of wisdom as did the goddess Chinnamasta." Id. at 71-72. "Yoga is inner sacrifice or self-sacrifice par excellence. No longer did the Upanishadic yogins require external rituals to concentrate the wandering mind, though many continued to avail themselves of this useful medium. They learned to appreciate that the mind itself was sufficient to work the miracle of deep self-transformation. The central object of all such self-sacrificing practices like Yoga is to transcend the human condition and therefore also transcend the cosmos itself." Id. at 76. "Turning to the contemporary 'Yoga scene,' we find little evidence of the virtue of chastity either in the married or unmarried state. Sexy outfits for women and men are common in so-called Yoga classes. Modesty, once a highly valued yogic virtue, is considered old-fashioned. There are even public classes in 'nude yoga,' and a fashionable coterie of Yoga practitioners indulge in sexual free-for-alls under the pretext of practicing Tantra-Yoga. Centuries ago, the Tantric tradition fell into ill-repute in India owing to the same erroneous interpretation. Today, this kind of distorted Tantra is an underground movement in India and part of the New Age movement in the Western hemisphere. As an authentic tradition, however, Tantra thrives largely only in the sophisticated form of Tibetan and Vajrayana Buddhism. Here the emphasis is on ritualism, insight, renunciation, and compassion rather than sensual or sexual practices." Id. at 167.).

Georg Feuerstein, The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice, 3rd Ed., with a foreword by Subhash Kak (Prescott, AZ: Hohn Press, 2008) (a reference work surveying the 5,000-year history of Hindu,  Buddhist, Jaina, and Sikh Yoga) .

Georg Feuerstein, Stephan Bodian, & Staff of Yoga Journal, Living Yoga: A Comprehensive Guide for Daly Life (New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Perigee Books, 1993).

HINDU-BUDDHIST SCULPTURES FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA

John Guy, Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculptures of Early Southeast Asia (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2014) (From the bookjacket: "From the fifth to the eighth century, a series of kingdoms emerged in Southeast Asia whose rulers embraced Hinduism and Buddhism, two major religions received from India. Yet, until recently, little was known about these enigmatic societies. Lost Kingdoms, the first publication to use sculpture as a lens through which to explore this formative period of Southeast Asian history, is a groundbreaking scholarly contribution. While taking a fresh approach to the study of the early cultures of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, it also considers the individual sculptures and architectural elements presented here--more than 170 works in all--in terms of their undeniable aesthetic accomplishment. For these are objects of rare and singular beauty, as well as key to understanding an essential phrase of Southeast Asia's past.").

Donald S. Lopez Jr., From Stone to Flesh: A Short History of the Buddha (Chicago & London: U. of Chicago Press, 2013) (From the bookjacket: "Leading historian of Buddhism Donal S. Lopez Jr. tells the story of how various idols carved in stone--variously named Beddou, Codam, Xaca, and Fo--became the man of flesh and blood that we know simply as the Buddha. He reveals that the positive view of the Buddha in Europe and America is rather recent, originating a little more than a hundred and fifty years ago. For centuries, the Buddha was condemned by Western writers as the most dangerous idol of the Orient. He was a demon, the murderer of his mother, a purveyor of idolatry.").

SPINOZA'S GOD

Jim Holt, Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story (New York: Liveright/Norton, 2012) ("Of all the possible resolutions to the mystery of existence, perhaps the most exhilarating would be the discovery that, contrary to all appearances, the world is cause sui: the cause of itself. This possibility was first rasped by Spinoza, who boldly (if a little obscurely) reasoned that all reality consists of a single infinite substance. Individual things, both physical and mental, are merely temporary modifications of this substance, like waves on the surface of the sea. Spinoza referred to this infinite substance as Deus sive Natura: 'God or Nature.' God could not possibly stand apart from nature, he reasoned, because then each would limit the other's being. So the world itself is divine: eternal, infinite, and the cause of its own existence. Hence, it is worthy of our awe and reverence. Metaphyiscial understanding thus lead to 'intellectual love' of reality--the highest end for humans, according to Spinoza, and the closest we can come to immortality." "Spinoza's picture for the world as cause sui captivated Albert Einstein. In 1921, a New York rabbi asked Einstein if he believed in God. 'I believe in Spinoza's God,' he answered, 'who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.'" Id. at 34.).

ROOTS OF MODERNITY

Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern (New York: Norton, 2011) (From the bookjacket: "In the winter of 1417, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late thirties plucked a very old manuscript off a dusty shelf in a remote monastery, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and order that it be copied. He was Poggio Bracciolini, the greatest book hunter of the Renaissance, His discovery, Lucretius' ancient poem On the Nature of Things, had been almost entirely lost to history for more than a thousand years." "It was a beautiful poem of the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functions without the aid of gods, that religious fear is damaging to human life, that pleasure and virtue are not opposites but intertwined, and that matter is made up of very small material particles in eternal motion, randomly colliding and swerving in new directions." "Its return to circulation changed the course of history. The poem's vision would shape the thought of Galileo and Freud, Darwin and Einstein, and--in the hands of Thomas Jefferson--leave its trace on the Declaration of Independence." "From the gardens of the ancient philosophers to the dark chambers of monastic scriptoria during the Middle Ages to the cynical, competitive court of a corrupt and dangerous pope . . . Stephen Greenblatt brings Poggio's search and discovery to life in a way that revolutionizes our understanding of the world we live in today.").

Lucretius, The Nature of Things, translated and with notes by A. E. Stallings, introduction by Richard Jenkyns (New York: Penguin Books, 2007) ("The mind seeks explanation. Since the universe extends / Forever out beyond those ramparts at which our world ends, / The mind forever years to peer into infinity, / To project beyond and outside of itself, and there soar free." Book II, The Dance of Atoms, lines 1044-1047.).