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Book Cover for: An Unlikely Prophet: A Metaphysical Memoir by the Legendary Writer of Superman and Batman, Alvin Schwartz

An Unlikely Prophet: A Metaphysical Memoir by the Legendary Writer of Superman and Batman

Alvin Schwartz

A profound investigation into the shifting nature of identity and reality

- Looks at the ways thought is embodied and how it takes on a life of its own

- Shows how Superman, an archetype of popular culture, is a perfect example of the nonlocality of quantum physics

Writer Alvin Schwartz received a great deal of attention from fans when he began talking publicly about his seventeen-year stint writing Superman and Batman comics. One of the individuals who contacted him was no ordinary fan, but a seven-foot Buddhist monk named Thongden, a tulpa or individual who was thought into being by a Tibetan mystic. Thongden put Alvin Schwartz on the path without form, an amazing journey he took in the company of Hawaiian kahunas, quantum physicists, and superheroes. Superman, as it turns out, is also a tulpa, a being created by thought that takes on a life of its own and, in Mr. Schwartz's words, is an archetype expressing the sense of nonlocality that is always present in the back of our minds--that capacity to be everywhere instantly. Superman is one of the specific forms that embodies our reality when we're at our highest point, when we're truly impermeable, indestructible, totally concentrated, and living entirely in the now, a condition each of us actually attains from time to time.

Alvin Schwartz's story is a personal journey through a lifelong remembrance of synchrony, inspiration, accident, and magic. As it unfolds it puts into vivid clarity the saving grace that inhabits every moment of our lives. The author travels as a stranger in a strange land, whose greatest oddity is that this land is our own.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Destiny Books
  • Publish Date: Jun 1st, 2006
  • Pages: 224
  • Language: English
  • Edition: Edition, New - 0002
  • Dimensions: 8.30in - 6.14in - 0.60in - 0.60lb
  • EAN: 9781594771088
  • Categories: Visionary & Metaphysical

About the Author

Schwartz, Alvin: - Alvin Schwartz (1916-2011) wrote Superman and Batman strips as well as many other DC comic-book titles during the 1940s and '50s. In 2006 he received the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. He was the author of An Unlikely Prophet and The Blowtop, which was described by the New York Times as the first conscious existentialist novel in America. He also wrote a number of screenplays and some 30 docudramas for the National Film Board of Canada.

More books by Alvin Schwartz

Book Cover for: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Three Books to Chill Your Bones: All 3 Scary Stories Books with the Original Art!, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories: Reillustrated Edition. a Halloween Book for Kids, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: Scary Stories Paperback Box Set: The Complete 3-Book Collection with Classic Art by Stephen Gammell, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories Book and CD [With CD], Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: There Is a Carrot in My Ear and Other Noodle Tales, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: Ghosts!: Ghostly Tales from Folklore, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: Superman: The Golden Age Newspaper Dailies: 1944-1947, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Scary Stories 3, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: I Saw You in the Bathtub and Other Folk Rhymes, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: Gold and Silver, Silver and Gold: Tales of Hidden Treasure, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: A Gathering of Selves: The Spiritual Journey of the Legendary Writer of Superman and Batman, Alvin Schwartz
Book Cover for: Historias de Miedo Para Contar En La Oscuridad, Brett Helquist

Praise for this book

". . . a unique meditation on time and space, personal identity, and the creative instinct."-- "Independent Publisher"
"The finely crafted narrative will hold readers' attention, and the speculations in this 'spiritual autobiography' (as Schwartz calls it) will give even skeptics plenty of food for thought."-- "Kevin Grandfield, Booklist"
"If you like comic books, especially Superman, and have an interest in Eastern spirituality, An Unlikely Prophet is the perfect book for you."-- "Amazon.com"
"An Unlikely Prophet is an essential text for anyone interested in the history of American comics, the principles behind fiction, and many of the themes Alan Moore has been exploring of late. Consider it 'Kavalier & Clay' meets the Superboy from Earth Prime."-- "Rich Johnson, Comic Book Resource"
"Schwartz weaves a tale that lingers with you long after the read concludes. Symbolism, masked in the 'ordinary' details of Schwartz's life, is potently and subtly utilized."-- "Bob Hughes, ConsciousMedia.com"
". . . a can't-lay-it-down novel . . . . It's all a great adventure, a book about 'possibilities.'"-- "NAPRA Review"
". . . a vast spiritual landscape with translucent forms from the past and future merging into physical form."-- "The Edge"
"A rare and mystifying must-read, this book redefines the constructs of reality, imagination, and life itself."-- "Four Corners, Oct-Nov 2006"