Lightning Storm Mind (Paperback)

Max Cafard

ISBN 10: 1570273197 / ISBN 13: 9781570273193

Published by Autonomedia, 2017

Paperback. "Max Cafard's profound exercise in what he calls 'anarchography' is an attempt to say the unsayable (ineffable), a meditation in the form of fragments on the fragments left by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. But Cafard, an obvious pseudonym with many associations (Kafka, blues, jazz, roaches etc.), interprets him in a radically dialectical way, particularly inspired by taoism, Zen, Surrealism, and certain strands of anarchism. Cafard offers a ruthless critique of things as they are on behalf of 'divine justice, ' and claims persuasively that Heraclitus taught that opposition brings concord and at the heart of all things is "anarchic harmony." Cafard champions nothing less than 'the Custom of Chaos' in this brilliant and profound series of original meditations, which not only provides new insights into the meaning of the philosopher's work but touches upon some of the most important and urgent subjects confronting us today. It is further wonderfully illustrated by Michel Varisco's photos of abandoned industrial landscapes in the Louisiana region and the life-affirming beauty of its trees, plants, water and waterways. What we do to nature is illuminated by what nature, within us all, does to us." -- Peter Marshall Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781570273193

Synopsis:

Max Cafard's profound exercise in what he calls anarchography is an attempt to say the unsayable (ineffable), a meditation in the form of fragments on the fragments left by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. But Cafard, an obvious pseudonym with many associations (Kafka, blues, jazz, roaches etc.), interprets him in a radically dialectical way, particularly inspired by taoism, Zen, Surrealism, and certain strands of anarchism. Cafard offers a ruthless critique of things as they are on behalf of divine justice, and claims persuasively that Heraclitus taught that opposition brings concord and at the heart of all things is anarchic harmony. Cafard champions nothing less than the Custom of Chaos in this brilliant and profound series of original meditations, which not only provides new insights into the meaning of the philosopher s work but touches upon some of the most importantI and urgent subjects confronting us today. It is further wonderfully illustrated by Michel Varisco s photos of abandoned industrial landscapes in the Louisiana region and the life-affirming beauty of its trees, plants, water and waterways. What we do to nature is illuminated by what nature, within us all, does to us. Peter Marshall

Review: A rare compendium begun on scraps of paper while travelling on the road, these witty, erudite koan-like aphorisms inspired by ancestor Heraclitus construct a performative rhizome. Logos, archive, panopticon, landscribing! Cafard romps and meditates over the edge of what feels a timeless existence of endless fragments. There s much useful scholarly and spiritual knowledge here, including a trenchant essay on Anarchography, and generous notes. These untethered thunderbolts flash, pun, scintillate, pound with glee. Do not step into the same River even once. Step into the Common. You are a Communad. You are a No-Monad. You are a Noumenad. Indeed, a thing-in-itself, dear anarchist. Anne Waldman --Back cover blurb

An epic project and undertaking; a new anti-bible to combat fundamentalism of all kinds! What the (w)hole world needs, now: (r)evolutionary (rev)elation! While the predominant metropolitan malaise goes fast forward to the superficial past, this takes us back to the deep future. José Marti wrote: the struggle is not between civilization and barbarity, but between false erudition and Nature. In form and content, Lightning Storm Mind promises to charge us with nature, electrically and politically, and vaporize the bullshite epistemology of Western erudition, which even at its heights in Marxism is weighed down with concrete analysis of concrete conditions, a phrase whose tautology and choice of metaphor always struck me as a deep mistake of some kind, even as its refrain remains necessary against the intellectual slackerdom which rules the day. But you can only stand in the concrete once. What we need is lightning analysis of storm conditions! Thanks for unpaving the way! Quincy Saul --back cover blurb

In Lightning Storm Mind, Cafard elevates the important creative tension of neatness vs. Scattering. So, my recommendation is to read these apothegmatic sentences, then Scatter them into your own mind, and come up with your own self-created further apothegms. isn't that what good Writing always is? Ed Sanders --preface

Bibliographic Details

Title: Lightning Storm Mind (Paperback)
Publisher: Autonomedia
Publication Date: 2017
Binding: Paperback
Illustrator: Michel Varisco
Condition: new