5.0
Burning the Midnight Oil
ByPublisher Description
In Burning the Midnight Oil, word-wrangler extraordinaire Phil Cousineau has gathered an eclectic and electric collection of soulful poems and prose from great thinkers throughout the ages. Whether beguiling readers with glorious poetry or consoling them with prayers from fellow restless souls, Cousineau can relieve any insomniac's unease. From St. John of the Cross to Annie Dillard, Beethoven to The Song of Songs, this refreshingly insightful anthology soothes and inspires all who struggle through the dark of the night. These "night thoughts" vividly illustrate Alfred North Whitehead's liberating description of "what we do without solitude" and also evoke Henry David Thoreau's reverie, "Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake." The night writers in Cousineau's vesperal collection range from saints, poets, and shamans to astronomers and naturalists, and tells of ancient tales and shining passages from the most brilliant (albeit insomniac) writers of today. These poetic ponderances sing of the falling darkness, revel in dream-time, convey the ache of melancholy, conspire against sleeplessness, vanquish loneliness, contemplate the night sky, rhapsodize on love, and languorously greet the first rays of dawn. Notable night owls include Rabandranath Tagore, Mary Oliver, Manley Hopkins, Jorge Borges and William Blake.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesBurning the Midnight Oil Reviews
5.0
“This is a collection of poems, essays, and short selections about living in the night. Some of these selections made me think of the nights I spent lying out staring at the stars. It made me remember walks at night in the mountains and late nights working on papers. I thought about my travels as a young person and waking up to church bells or sun flooding through the glass porch where I was sleeping. And I certainly related to the descriptions of jet lag. There were also some beautiful spiritual passages that I will be referring back to frequently. I loved reading this as I was preparing to sleep every night”
“This is a collection of poems, essays, and short selections about living in the night. Some of these selections made me think of the nights I spent lying out staring at the stars. It made me remember walks at night in the mountains and late nights working on papers. I thought about my travels as a young person and waking up to church bells or sun flooding through the glass porch where I was sleeping. And I certainly related to the descriptions of jet lag. There were also some beautiful spiritual passages that I will be referring back to frequently. I loved reading this as I was preparing to sleep every night”
About Phil Cousineau
Phil Cousineau is a bestselling author, editor, photographer, award-winning documentary filmmaker, adventure travel leader, and independant scholar who lectures around the world on a wide range of topics from mythology, mentorship, and soul. His books include The Art of Pilgrimage, Soul Moments, Riddle Me This, and The Soul Aflame. A protege of the late Joseph Campbell, Cousineau is also the author of The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. He lives in San Francisco, California.
Other books by Phil Cousineau
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