i
Bianco Luno
We evolved to appreciate distance as a tool to subvert morality. In the interest of security, all is permitted.
Gentle, for all that... gone are the days when we might have stained our clothes red doing survival's bidding.
Wolves wear their red.
ii
Bianco Luno
No sharp blades without dull stones to sharpen them.
Belief is not a hallway to the room where knowledge is. It is a room all its own.
If the truth be told—few would listen.
iii
Bianco Luno
Breathing is murderous. It can kill and make it look like suicide.
Over the truth absurdity stands guard.
Off with the hands of thieves, out with the eyes of pornographers, and the heads of bad thinkers, remove them!
iv
Bianco Luno
He is always guest in her house. Always hers, always guest.
Knowledge is extra strength, longer lasting, belief.
Life takes your breath away. Literally. It leaves you dead.
Humanism
Humanism
This dainty, handmade, pocket sized mini book may have the answer to that question. A quick read of only 6 pages, it’s a neat introduction to Humanist Philosophy for the novice and a handy reference for the definition of Humanism; good to have close at hand as a conversation starter or whenever engaged in philosophical disputes about the nature of Humanism.
Desiderata
Desiderata
A tastefully designed pocket or wallet sized Desiderata with its timeless words of wisdom, comfort, and inspiration, is a nice companion to keep close at hand. It also makes a thoughtful small gift. Handmade, approx 2.7 x 3.6 inches, and comes in a protective plastic sleeve.
The Sensible Knave
Bianco Luno
Three centuries ago the Scottish philosopher David Hume identified a character type that posed a mortal danger to Hume's otherwise optimistic view of human nature. This character Hume called a "sensible knave." In this brief, accessible essay, contemporary philosopher Bianco Luno reminds us Hume's knave—aka psychopath—still haunts our world.
A Modest Proposal…
A Modest Proposal...
A Modest Proposal to Effect the Elimination of Champion Evil-doers from Our Midst While Preserving a Modicum of Moral Decorum
The Retributive Case
"There is no clear moral justification for the death penalty on consequentialist grounds in my view. If there is, it is slight and well below the threshold necessary to convincingly counterbalance the consequentialist arguments against it. If it is only the happiness of the greatest number we seek, there are plenty more effective remedies toward that end that we might try—that is, were our motives not mixed and purely consequentialist. The fact is our motives must be quite mixed to judge from the ambiguity of our legal and penal institutions..."
In this brief booklet, Luno works out the proper protocol for processing capital crimes if the penalty is to have a credible moral foundation or, as he says, “we want to do capital punishment right”—and on Kantian terms.
The Amateur
Trace Farrell
“One arrives like spittle landing: an emptiness that clings.”
Say you weren't of this world but wanted to be...what would you give, how would you know you'd arrived?
Lily is an outsider who'll do anything to get in...Francis Steerlock, a middle-aged drifter with a ready smile, hides a hopeless obsession...Sonia, a young hitch-hiker, challenges Francis in an elaborate game of hide-and-seek... elderly Mrs. Stoppit, riven by loneliness, develops an ominous condition...Queenie's pre-adolescent fascination with the elusive Sonia leads her—and her little brother Tick—across the safe borders of childhood.
When these half-dozen strangers, with best intentions, take an unexpected route to the worst that can happen, cross-currents of truth and desire, body and soul, obligation and ignorance, self and other, demand a reckoning. Startling and luminous, cut with metaphysical wit, the Amateur tracks this expedition into the gist of what it may cost—for better and worse—to be human.
“Fluh-dump, goes the heart. Fluh-dump. It's not as simple as it looks.”
Available at Amazon and CreateSpace.
The Bear
Trace Farrell
In The Bear, the first of three novellas to comprise her forthcoming Wilderness Trilogy, a sensible mid-level insurance adjuster, revisiting his childhood summer camp, meets his nemesis in the form of a headstrong and unaccountable bear. By turns antic, poignant, wry, The Bear offers an artful meditation on the crisis of otherness and the unreckoned cost of control.
Trace Farrell's first novel, The Ruins, was awarded the New York University Press Prize for Fiction and received strong critical praise:
“This magical novel is rich in plot and characters as well as a skillful use of language that is nothing less than musical” —Library Journal
“Demonstrating a vein of perversity all her own, Farrell makes a strong bid to join the company of elite postmodern comic writers like Coover and Pynchon” —Publishers Weekly.
“A riot.” —Annie Dillard.
Available at Amazon and CreateSpace.
The Tarot Reader’s Dog – Color Edition, Volume 1
Vivian Jones - Mugoux
Finally! Young Adult fiction for young mystics and wisdom-seekers. Join the wild journey of Vivian Jones (and Oliver the Dog too!) as she dives into the mystical world of the Tarot to discover the ultimate power that lies just beyond daily perception. It starts with a dream, a premonition, that Vivian has one night. She's in a new life, in a new city and there is a dog running through it. Dogs aren't allowed in the house, so that doesn't make sense. Imagine Vivian's surprise when, months later, she finds a "lost" dog in the new city where her family has just moved. Oliver the dog, leads her to a dilapidated old house with an ancient Tarot Reader that seems to know WAY too much about Vivian and her family. Her journey into the Tarot has begun and YOU can join her!
Available at Amazon.
Travels with William
Mugoux
Read this book, go to Greece and save your marriage!
“She’s not kidding!” -Billy S., Los Angeles
“Travels with William is a feast of a book: it has vivid descriptions of traveling in Greece, of crazy characters, and, yes, of food. It’s also nourishing: it depicts the dynamics of a real relationship, it offers real discourse on contemporary issues; it’s serious; it’s funny, and it offers more food for thought
than far too many books published today.” -Jerrie K., San Diego
“A romp through Greece and a marriage.” -Rebecca L., Nantucket
Available at Amazon.