Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings
By Rob Brezsny
(Frog Books, Paperback, 9781583941232, 312pp.)
Publication Date: May 24, 2005
Categories: Inspiration & Personal Growth, New Age (Self Help), New Thought
 |      |
Human beings are selfish, small-minded, violence-prone savages, civilization is a blight on the earth, and the rising tide of chaos ensures that everything's going to fall apart any day now. Right? Wrong, says Rob Brezsny. In Pronoia Is the Antidote to Paranoia, he declares evil is boring, the universe is friendly, and life is a sublime gift created for our amusement and illumination. This buoyant perspective is not rooted in denial. On the contrary, Brezsny builds a case for a "cagey optimism" that does not require a repression of difficulty, but rather, seeks a vigorous engagement with it. The best way to attract the blessings that the world is conspiring to give us, he insists, is to dive into the most challenging mysteries. This witty, inspiring how-to shows how any reader can become "a wildly disciplined, fiercely tender . . . lustfully compassionate Master of Rowdy Bliss."
The newly revised and significantly expanded—by more than a hundred pages—edition of Pronoia is now available (ISBN: 978-1-55643-818-9).
Rob Brezsny writes "Free Will Astrology," a syndicated weekly column that reaches nine million readers in over 100 publications, including the Village Voice, where it has appeared every week since January 1999. It is also published on his website, www.freewillastrology.com, and is distributed through a weekly email newsletter with 26,500+ subscribers.
When Utne Reader named Brezsny a "Culture Hero," it observed: "With a blend of spontaneous poetry, feisty politics, and fanciful put-on, Brezsny breathes new life into the tabloid mummy of zodiac advice columns."
In its profile of Brezsny, The New York Times quoted a reader who compared his writing to that of Tom Robbins. The horoscopes "are like little valentines, buoyant and spilling over with mischievousness. They're a soul prognosis."
Before his other book, The Televisionary Oracle, Brezsny's enduring artistic artifacts were music albums, one created as a solo artist and three with the band World Entertainment War, which recorded for MCA. World Entertainment War's albums was nominated for a "Bammie," California's version of the Grammies, and benefited from the promotional wizardry of rock's top impresario, Bill Graham, who managed World Entertainment War until his death.
"I've seen the future of American literature and its name is Rob Brezsny."
- Tom Robbins, author of Another Roadside Attraction, Jitterbug Perfume, and Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
"Brilliant! Absorbing! Wildly useful! Rob Brezsny gets my nomination for best prophet in a starring role. He's a script doctor for the soul."
-Marisa Tomei, Academy Award-winning actress
"I am deeply inspired by the illuminated words of Rob Brezsny. He is a word wizard for the soul."
-SARK, bestselling author of Succulent Wild Woman and many other books
"What's amazing is how Brezsny's prose remains invigorating in the transition from weekly astrology to larger scope writing. The prose is still poetic, circular, almost dancing, combining the narrative voices of Anais Nin, Tom Robbins, David Ignatow, and a host of ancient mystics."
-Rain Taxi
"Brezsny holds his own place next to other cultural shamans such as Robert Anton Wilson, Timothy Leary, Reverend Ivan Stang, William S. Burroughs, and Ken Kesey."
-PopMatters
"Like a mutant love-child of Jack Kerouac and Anais Nin, Rob Brezsny writes with devilish humor, spiritual audacity, and erotic intensity. The Televisionary Oracle is a kick-ass gnostic tale. Prepare to be astonished."
-Jay Kinney, author of Hidden Wisdom
"A book so weird it might drive you stark raving sane."
-Robert Anton Wilson
 |
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Jamie Ford Random House |
 |
Miles from Nowhere Nami Mun Riverhead |
 |
American Buffalo Steven Rinella Spiegel & Grau |
 |
The Piano Teacher Janice Y. K. Lee Viking |
