Telling the Difference - Just Published

Press Release

Just Published:

Telling the Difference
A book of Poetry by Paul Watsky

To quote Norman O. Brown quoting Euripedes, “God made an opening for the unexpected,” and at long last we have what many of us have greatly desired: a collection of poems by Paul Watsky. His is a singular voice in contemporary poetry, with a range that encompasses the wry, the mordant, the laugh-out-loud funny and the deeply moving, often within the same poem. One of Ovid’s earliest critics complained that he did not know when to leave well enough alone. In this he resembles the eponymous hero of Watsky’s “The Magnificent Goldstein,” and, come to think of it, Watsky himself, for which we have cause to rejoice.   —Charles Martin

We meet an observant poet telling a story, his story: wryly perceived incidents of family and history—all given with elegance, wit, and intimacy.  A concise, carefully crafted, timely view of the world.     —Joanne Kyger

About the Author
A native of New York City, Paul Watsky moved to California during the late 1960’s, where, after teaching for five years in the English Department of San Francisco State University, he trained as a clinical psychologist and Jungian analyst. His haiku, longer poems, and translations have appeared widely in periodicals and anthologies, including Modern Haiku, A New Resonance: Emerging Voices in English Language Haiku, Asheville Poetry Review, Cave Wall, The Cream City Review, and The Pinch. He is cotranslator of Santoka (Tokyo, PIE Books, 2006).

Published by Fisher King Press and available from your local bookstore, a host of online booksellers, and directly from Fisher King Press. ISBN: 978-1-926715-00-1, Publication Date: March 21, 2010, Price: $18.00. To order your copy call: +1-831-238-7799.

Fisher King Press features an eclectic mix of Jungian Psychological Perspectives, Cutting-Edge Fiction, and a growing list of Alternative titles. www.fisherkingpress.com

Fisher King Press resurrects another timeless classic: Divine Madness and Romantic Love

With Great Please Fisher King Press presents another resurrected Jungian classic:

Available April 2010

Divine Madness: Archetypes of Romantic Love
By John R. Haule
ISBN 978-1-926715-04-9, Index, Biblio, 300pp, 2010

Divine Madness: Archetypes of Romantic Love examines the transforming experience of romantic love in literature, myth, religion, and everyday life. A series of psychological meditations on the nature of romantic love and human relationship, Divine Madness takes the perspective that human love is a species of divine love and that our experience of romantic love both conceals and reveals the ultimate Lover and Beloved. John Haule draws on depth psychology, the mystical traditions of the world, and literature from Virgil to Milan Kundera to lead the reader inside the mind and heart of the lover.

Each chapter explores a characteristic aspect of relationship, such as seduction and love play, the rapture of union, the agony of separation, madness, woundedness, and transcendence. Focusing on the soulful and spiritual meaning of these experiences, Divine Madness sheds light on our elations, obsessions, and broken hearts, but it also reconnects us with the wisdom of time immemorial.

As a practicing Jungian analyst and former professor of religious studies, John Haule masterfully guides his readers through the labyrinth of everyday experience, and the often hidden layers of archetypal realities, sketching a philosophy of romantic love through the stories of the world's literature and mythology.

About the Author

John Ryan Haule holds a doctorate in religious studies from Temple University. He is a Jungian analyst trained in Zurich and is a faculty member of the C.G. Jung Institute-Boston.

Reviews

John R. Haule’s wonderful study of Romantic Love . . . is a first-rate psychological, literary and spiritual study . . . The author’s passion and courage in delving into his own experience . . . makes reading it a powerful experience in its own right. . . . One cannot help seeing oneself reflected in the magic mirror of Haule’s study and deriving light and succor therefrom.
Divine Madness is one of the rarest of books—one that really does speak to the heart as well as to the mind.

—Timothy O’Neill, Gnosis Magazine

The author brings us wonderful stories from all over the world that point to the lover’s task: to see through to the soul of the beloved. Even our tangled relationships hide this task in their sufferings. Even the love of God brings us to this work. A moving and helpful book.

—Ann Belford Ulanov, Christiane Brooks Johnson Professor of Psychiatry and Religion, Union Theological Seminary

Haule has the clear eye of an analyst, the spirit of a theologian, and the heart of a troubadour. His lyrical prose invites the reader into the depths and breadth of romantic love by exploring its rich and varied imagery in literature and music. . . .There are some little surprise jewels tucked in and under the main theme, such as some fresh definitions of classical Jungian concepts.

—Elizabeth S. Strahan, Past President of the C. G. Jung Institute in Los Angeles

Order Divine Madness: Archetypes of Romantic Love with Fisher King Press online Bookstore.
 

Featuring an eclectic mix of worthy books including 

Jungian Psychological Perspectives, Cutting-Edge 

Fiction, and a growing list of Alternative titles.

Valentines Day and The Art of Love

by Bud and Massimilla Harris
ISBN 978-1-926715-02-5

Millions of books on relationships have been printed in the last several years. Why do we need another one? We need The Art of Love: The Craft of Relationship for the same reasons that over four and a half million readers wanted Spencer Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese in a market that already had over 12,000 titles in print on the subject of change. Following Johnson’s methods of teaching to a broad, modern audience, The Art of Love presents the profound principles that form a loving relationship in an easily accessible manner. Using a deceptively simple approach, it will help people shift their attitudes and provide them with the skills to create a loving, long-lasting partnership.

There are so many titles in print on change because it is an ongoing challenge for most of us. So are relationships. With many years of experience working with couples, Bud and Massimilla Harris share vital information, lessons, and insights. Engaging, and easy to read, The Art of Love: The Craft of Relationship is packed with wisdom, skills, and ideas that can open the door to a new era of fulfilling relationships.

This forthcoming Fisher King Press publication brings complex material and common sense into a format that is carefully constructed to achieve results by being communicative and consistent, enjoyable and hopeful. Unlike the textbook appearance of many self-help books that include psychological jargon, case examples and exercises, The Art of Love: The Craft of Relationship uses stories and dialogue to teach profound insights and valuable skills to handle problems in a way that builds love and trust.

Who will read The Art of Love: The Craft of Relationship:

• Singles and couples who seek self-improvement, who want to enrich their relationships, and who desire practical advice for helping love and trust grow.
• Singles who are frustrated with their current relationships or have difficulty staying in long-term relationships, and who want to find and develop a more supportive and interactive partnership.
• Couples who need to learn how to understand each other better in order to have their uniqueness affirmed without threatening their relationship.
• Couples who are experiencing relational difficulties and who need to improve their communication with each other and learn how to handle conflicts in a way that brings them closer together.
• Divorced individuals who need support in understanding why their marriages failed and who need encouragement in seeking to get their needs met again.
• People who are interested in cultivating love and closeness in a way that supports individual growth.
• Therapists and counselors who seek an accessible resource for their clients, and for readers who wish to explore the most recent perspectives on relationship dynamics.
• Groups of people, whether religious or educational, who are concerned about the state of their relationships. People who are seeking to understand them and discover the promises of love and joy that being in life together can bring.

Order for The Art of Love: The Craft of Relationship from Fisher King Press.

Phone orders welcomed, Credit Cards accepted.

Featuring an eclectic mix of worthy books including 

Jungian Psychological Perspectives, Cutting-Edge 

Fiction, and a growing list of Alternative titles.

Daughters and Well-meaning Mothers

This past summer, Daryl Sharp of Inner City Books contacted us, explaining that he had edited a manuscript for Kehinde Ayeni. Daryl suggested that the manuscript was a real winner and encouraged us to consider it for publication. We had a closer look and soon contracted to published this body of work. We are now pleased to announce the publication of:

Feasts of Phantoms
a novel by Kehinde Adeola Ayeni
ISBN 978-0-9813939-2-6, 346 pp

How is a well meaning mother to protect her daughter from a culture where the birth of a baby girl is met with despair because the only future open to her is that of sexual assault and teenage pregnancy, which would doom her to a life of illiteracy and poverty as it has doomed her lineage before her? Genital mutilation has many causes but at the root of all of them is fear. A fear that pushes a mother to do the unthinkable to a daughter that she loves? What does a scapegoat do with the fate she has been handed? Accept it and roll with it, or reject it? How is she to reject it when the acceptance of her role is needed for her culture's psychic equilibrium? In the theater of the mind where all springs forth, is there such a thing as an innocent victim, and a victimizer? Feasts of Phantoms is a novel that explores these questions, and more.

Kehinde Adeola Ayeni, MD., a public health physician, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst was born in Nigeria. A mother of two children, she is in private practice in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Her first novel Our Mother's Sore Expectations explored the plight of women under dictatorship government in Nigeria. Dr. Ayeni founded the Foundation for Indigenous Development and Advocacy (Foundida.org), a nonprofit organization whose goal is that every Nigerian child has at minimum an elementary school education, and she works closely with Educare Trust Fund based in Ibadan, Nigeria (Educaretrust1994.org).

Feasts of Phantoms can be purchased directly from the Fisher King Press Online Bookstore.

Press Release - Requiem: A Tale of Exile and Return

Requiem: A Tale of Exile and Return

a novella by Erel Shalit

ISBN 9781926715032

Just published by Fisher King Press:

Requiem: A Tale of Exile and Return

a novella by Erel Shalit

Requiem returns us to an eternal theme, a dialogue with Soul, and we know quite well what happens when one dialogues with Soul—we change, consciousness is enlarged, the impossible becomes possible and we no longer are compelled to blindly follow in the deathly path of our forefathers.

Requiem is a fictitious account of a scenario played out in the mind of many Israelis, pertaining to existential reflections and apocalyptic fears, but then, as well, the hope and commitment that arise from the abyss of trepidation. While set in Israel sometime in the present, it is a story that reaches into the timelessness of history, weaving discussions with Heine and Kafka into a tale of universal implications.

Erel Shalit is a Jungian psychoanalyst in Ra’anana, Israel. He is a training and supervising analyst, and past president of the Israel Society of Analytical Psychology. He is the author of several publications, including Enemy, Cripple, Beggar: Shadows in the Hero’s Path.

Dr. Shalit lectures at professional institutes, universities, and cultural forums in Israel, Europe, and the United States. One of his popular lectures includes Requiem and is the basis for Requiem: A Tale of Exile and Return.