Dreaming the End of the World: Apocalypse As a Rite of Passage. by Michael Ortiz Hill - 1994.

Dallas, TX Spring Publications, 1994. Paperback First Edition Thus [1994]; First Printing stated. First Edition Thus [1994]; First Printing stated. Very Near Fine in Wraps: shows only the most minute indications of use: just a hint of wear to the extremities; very mild overall rubbing to the wrapper covers; some faint, superficial scratches to the front and rear panels. The binding square and secure; the text is clean. Free of ownership names, dates, addresses, notations, inscriptions, stamps, or labels. Very close to 'As New'. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. (9 x 6 x 0.6 inches). xiii, 210 pages. Weight: 12.2 ounces. Trade Paperback. Michael Ortiz Hill, a curandero, lives in California with his wife, the poet Deena Metzger. The book starts by describing the nuclear bombs of WWII, from an experiential viewpoint. There are quotes from physicists I haven't seen elsewhere. They were changed, and they knew the world had changed. After this dramatic introduction, the author describes, with dreams fragments as examples, several stages of apocalypse, tying together the personal-scale experiences and the archetypical end of the world symbolized by the Bomb. This is no trivial book where the author just threw some related ideas together; Michael Ortiz Hill has skillfully related ideas that, to me, seem to be from different worlds. One very minor gripe is the lack of an index, but there is a topical dream image glossary, very fun to browse, and I'm not sure this book would benefit much from a regular index. Like movies, some of which are entertaining but you forget as soon as you walk out of the theater, and others make you think about life for some time afterward, books can be fleeting or lasting. Dreaming the End of the World was one of the most satisfying, enlightening, food-for-thought books I've ever read, and it's good for a second -- or third -- reading.