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Synopsis
The best heaven and the worst hell are the same place. Travel with author John F. Williams into the jungles of Laos and into a new understanding of existence.
In lively short stories, Hating Perfection shows the everyday world as uncanny, equally strange as the imaginary worlds of Borges or Kafka. This engrossing, strikingly original book invites you to experience your life in a new way.
Hating Perfection weaves its stories together with an elegant logic. Our hateful world—painful, unjust, ruthless, fatal—stands revealed as the best of all possible worlds, flooded everywhere by a perfection both alien and addicting. What we want is different from what we get. But the reason why has a divine splendor.
Stand beside the author for a time, and look in the direction he is looking. Your troubles may still be your troubles, but the world will be more than it was.
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About the Author
John F. Williams (Las Vegas, NV), now retired, is a successful, independent venture capitalist. He has traveled widely and lived for ten years in the Far East.
Review
"Astonishing!...Lively, highly original, tightly argued, and a joy to read....An electrifying achievement." -- Hubert Dreyfus, professor of philosophy, University of California, Berkeley
"Illustrates Leonardo's idea that details make perfection, but perfection is not a detail."
-- Dagfinn Føllesdal, Stanford University
"Original, fascinating, highly ingenious, ... and inspiring." -- Gualtiero Piccinini, University of Missouri, St. Louis
"You have added an argument to those used by Leibniz for the claim that this is the best of all possible worlds and one that is more persuasive than his." -- Nelson Pole, Cleveland State University
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- PublisherHumanity Books
- Publication date2009
- ISBN 10 1591027322
- ISBN 13 9781591027324
- BindingPaperback
- LanguageEnglish
- Number of pages359
- Rating
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Hating Perfection: A Subtle Search for the Best Possible World
Seller: Reliant Bookstore, El Dorado, KS, U.S.A.
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Condition: acceptable. This book is a well used but readable copy. Integrity of the book is still intact with no missing pages. May have considerable notes or highlighting. This is an ex-library book with stickers and markings. Cover image on the book may vary. Ships out quickly in a secure plastic mailer! Seller Inventory # 56JTFK000VYI_ns
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Hating Perfection: A Subtle Search for the Best Possible World
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Hating Perfection: A Subtle Search for the Best Possible World
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
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Paperback. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.35. Seller Inventory # G1591027322I5N00
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Hating Perfection: A Subtle Search for the Best Possible World
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Paperback. Condition: As New. No Jacket. Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.35. Seller Inventory # G1591027322I2N00
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Hating Perfection: A Subtle Search for the Best Possible World
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Paperback. Condition: As New. No Jacket. Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.35. Seller Inventory # G1591027322I2N00
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Hating Perfection: A Subtle Search for the Best Possible World
Published by
Humanity Books, Amherst, New York, U.S.A., 2009
ISBN 10: 1591027322
ISBN 13: 9781591027324
Used
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First Edition
Seller: Granada Bookstore, IOBA, Woodlawn, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First edition/First printing. A couple of edge smudges and a tiny crease to the upper back corner, else fine. Seller Inventory # 016277
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Hating Perfection: A Subtle Search for the Best Possible World
Seller: Sheri's Book Treasures, Soldier, IA, U.S.A.
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paperback. Condition: As New. PAPERBACK - ** LIKE NEW - GIFT QUALITY **. Ships same or next business day. Seller Inventory # 240307018
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Hating Perfection: A Subtle Search for the Best Possible World
Seller: G. & J. CHESTERS, TAMWORTH, United Kingdom
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Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 359p, 3 full-page colour illustrations, paperback, a fine copy (as new) [9781591027324]. Seller Inventory # 111182
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Hating perfection; a subtle search for the best possible world
Published by
Humanity Books, an imprint of Prometheus Books, Amherst, 2009
ISBN 10: 1591027322
ISBN 13: 9781591027324
Used
Paperback
First Edition
Signed
Seller: Bolerium Books Inc., San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. 359p., trade paperback original, first edition with color cover by artist Jesse Lindsay and two uncredited color plates in the text. Autographed by Williams, fine copy. From p.149: "Somehow we need evils in variety and profusion. This cunning world substitutes the ineffable for our banal ambitions." Amateur philosophical treatise arguing that humans have already achieved our highest heaven; the text is thoroughly interspersed with interesting anecdotes and observations from the author's travels in Asia with his Chinese wife. UC Berkeley philosophy professor Hubert L. Dreyfus calls the book "Astonishing! Lively, well written, highly original" in a cover blurb. The first narrative describes an experience with hallucinogenic "Whiskey Lao" outside of Luang Prabang. Seller Inventory # 140394
Quantity: 2 available
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Hating Perfection: A Subtle Search for the Best Possible World
Seller: Aardvark Rare Books, Bucknell, SHROP, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: New. Mint New Copy in stock for immediate dispatch from the UK. Seller Inventory # mon0000109829
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