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In these eleven talks—originally presented as the highly acclaimed television series "The Worlds of Abraham Kaplan"—a great teacher discusses the most important questions of traditional and contemporary human experience. Dr. Kaplan's views reflect a deep concern for human dignity and a sensitive awareness of the obstacles which often hinder our self-understanding, our relationships, and our happiness. With wisdom and humane wit, Kaplan deals with the attitudes and emotions which many of us feel but which few of us can articulate.On Women: "...the kind of discrimination which makes a problem for women, blacks, Catholics, Jews, Chicanos, and all sorts of minorities and special groups in our society, is this: they are responded to differently in situations in which the differences make no difference."On Religion: "...authentic religious life, in all cultures and all faiths, is something that comes out of the fullness of a man's heart. It is a gift in which we express our love, rather than something which comes out of the poverty of our lives as a demand that something be given to us."On Morals: "...the great moral leaders of mankind, the prophets, the teachers, the martyrs—they have been the very men and women who made trouble."On Technology: "We talk of modern technology as a Frankenstein monster that threatens to destroy us; the symbol is perhaps better than is often appreciated. Frankenstein was not the name of the monster; Frankenstein was the name of the human being who created the monster."On Loneliness: "I believe that one of the tragedies of our time is that if we have no other way of relating to others, we do so by violence."On Aging: "In many ways, it is the old that are to be envied by the young; they have so much less to lose that often they are capable of much more dedication and commitment to the values, ideals, and principles which provide meaning to all our lives." On Death: "To die in a manner that is worthy of a human being, is to die with a sense of one's identity as the human being he is; as the locus of all the human values which intersect, which come to a meeting-point in his being, as an embodiment of human dignity.""With Abraham Kaplan," as Alfred Slote notes in his Foreword, "the reader is in the hands of a master teacher, a philosopher, a gadfly, and a delightful and impassioned storyteller." Love... and Death is a book to own, to ponder, and to give to friends you cherish.

 Through conversations with twelve vastly different gardeners—among them a Trappist monk, a retired mailman, and an advertising copywrite—this enchanting volume captures the spirit of midwestern garderners. Illustrated throughout it is the wholesale dedication of midwesterners to their gardens—despite drought, heat, disabilities, and other challenges. Anyone who delights in gardening, the Midwest, or human triumph will enjoy this book.

The edited transcript of revealing autobiographical audiotapes recorded by the groundbreaking poet Robin Blaser
 
Robin Blaser moved from his native Idaho to attend the University of California, Berkeley, in 1944. While there, he developed as a poet, explored his homosexuality, engaged in a lively arts community, and met fellow travelers and poets Robert Duncan and Jack Spicer. The three men became the founding members of the Berkeley core of what is now known as the San Francisco Renaissance in New American Poetry.

In the company of a small group of friends and writers in 1974, Blaser was asked to narrate his personal story and to comment on the Berkeley poetry scene. In twenty autobiographical audiotapes, Blaser talks about his childhood in Idaho, his time in Berkeley, and his participation in the making of a new kind of poetry. The Astonishment Tapes is the expertly edited transcript of these recordings by Miriam Nichols, Blaser’s editor and biographer.

In The Astonishment Tapes Blaser comments extensively on the poetic principles that he, Duncan, and Spicer worked through, as well as the differences and dissonances between the three of them. Nichols has edited the transcripts only minimally, allowing readers to make their own interpretations of Blaser’s intentions.

Sometimes gossipy, sometimes profound, Blaser offers his version on the inside story of one of the most significant moments in mid-twentieth century American poetry. The Astonishment Tapes is of considerable value and interest, not only to readers of Blaser, Duncan, and Spicer, but also to scholars of the early postmodern and twentieth-century American poetry.