As promised, Chapel Perilous, the new biography of Robert Anton Wilson, is out today in hardcover and paperback editions. Until today, it was released as a Kindle ebook.
I meant to blog about this earlier, but I've had a lot of other news. The online discussion group for The Sex Magicians has continued at the Jechidah blog.
The latest entry covers the second chapter, which was my favorite when I read the book for the first time when Hilaritas republished it; I liked all of the new jokes about the Midget. Not too late to pick up the book and catch up with the discussion.
The biggest effect is that it's easier to look at it on your phone, and also on your computer. All of the technically impressive but hard to use unfolding out of the book titles is gone. Now you just look at a super-easy list of available titles and click the one you are interested in!
Super convenient when you are reading the new RAW biography and you read a description of a book you may have missed -- most of the core texts (except for some fiction titles) are available by now from Hilaritas.
Here's Rasa's spin on the changes: "I just redesigned our Hilaritas Press home page. I don’t know if that’s newsworthy, but I’m excited about it. It’s much cleaner, I think, and works much better on a mobile phone."
While the main point of Hilaritas is to offer a books catalog, and that's handy, you should check out the site for other features. There are now more than three years of monthly podcasts, so click on the podcast area for topics you are interested in. Like, if you are a Beethoven fanatic, did you know there's an entire podcast of Eric Wagner talking about Beethoven? Or check out all of the magick podcasts. Or focus on your favorite obscure RAW title.
Click on "news" for interesting articles. Click on RAWnet to learn about various interesting people, some of them famous, who are fans of RAW.
Jim Broadbent in 2012. (Creative Commons photo, details here.)
In an article in the British newspaper The Guardian, Academy Award-winning actor Jim Broadbent talks about his experience in performing in Ken Campbell's stage adaptation of the Illuminatus! trilogy. There's a lot of good descriptions of what Campbell was like and how he worked with actors:
"He never wanted understatement from actors. (Unless, he might say: “I want you to understate this even more. Even smaller than that!”) No. He just wanted you to make sure it was fascinating. At one point I said to him, Ken, I’m a bit worried I’m upstaging the actor whose scene this is. 'Don’t worry about that. If you’re more interesting than he is, that’s his problem'.”
Hilaritas Press has officially announced the release of Terra II by issuing the now-customary newsletter. If you don't already subscribe and haven't already read it, read the whole thing. I always enjoy Rasa's communiques. I noticed a couple of interesting news bits:
(1) On Nov. 23, L. Wayne Benner, a coauthor of the book, will be a guest on the Hilaritas Podcast.
(2) There's an update from Bobby Campbell on the Tales of Illuminatus comic book project: "I'm happy to report that the print edition of Tales of Illuminatus! #1 is currently shipping out to all our most exalted illuminated seers!
"If you missed the opportunity to pre-order your copy, a very limited number will be available at the end of Oct. We'll also be going back to press in early 2025, and taking pre-orders for issue #1 along with the forthcoming Tales of Illuminatus! #2 'The Invisible Crown'."
As Bobby Campbell mentions in the new Tales of Illuminatus Substack newsletter, the first issue of the comic book adaptation has been mailed out, so many of you have gotten it by now. (Above, I am holding my copy that arrived a couple of days ago.)
Bobby also introduces Todd Purse, discusses the new RAW biography and provides other news at the link. Also, you can sign up to get the newsletter via email each week.
The news is coming thick and fast this week. When I checked the Hilaritas Press website for today's 23rd of the month podcast, I saw that it was Oz Fritz on Timothy Leary's Terra II ... A Way Out, and I thought, "Gee, that's odd. Why would they feature a podcast on a book that hasn't been released?" Well, there's an answer: It has been released!
It's a reprint of a Leary book that's long out of print. "L. Wayne Benner, Joanna Leary & Guanine" also are credited as authors. This is likely the definitive SMI²LE book -- Leary was in close touch with Robert Anton Wilson at the time -- but we'll have to see now that I can finally read it, after finishing the new RAW bio.
Official blurb: "The hope and optimism of the 1960s finds no better expression than a proposed journey aboard the space-city/time-ship Terra II. Received and written as a group invocation led by Dr. Timothy Leary tuning in and turning on to cosmic signaling and DNA intelligence. Herein we find the SMI²LE formula fully elucidated and mapped out in a practical application that directly confronts many of the problems and challenges that would inevitably arise. Far ahead of its time, but as timely as ever, this visionary blueprint provides one answer to the questions, where do we go from here and how do we get there?"
Interesting bit from the book: "Many tbanks to Nick Helweg-Larsen for lending Hilaritas Press his copy of Terra II. Of the 1,000 original copies of the first edition, Nick had number 18."
The new book sticks closely to the original edition, but a few changes were made, all in a positive direction. Also, there is a new introduction by Oz Fritz.
Speaking of Mr. Fritz, here's the podcast, also likely available on your favorite podcasting app.
Chapel Perilous: The Life & Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson by Gabriel Kennedy has been released as an Amazon Kindle ebook. According to Joseph Matheny's newsletter, the title will be released in hardcover and paperback in one week, on Oct. 29. Gabriel of course also writes and records under the moniker Prop Anon.
Steve Pratt has released a rave review of the new book, read it here. "Meticulous research, in depth interviews and his own blood sweat and tears make this book burst with primary sourced materials. Prop met and interviewed Wilson, and studied under his wings at the Maybe Logic Academy 2004-2007. Prop has read and processed everything Wilson published, and done a great service to humanity in discovering and compiling many unpublished materials and eclipsed details."
"The first chapter of The Sex Magicians introduces us to arguably the primary protagonist of this slim volume of smut, Dr. Robert Prong. Prong is the first incarnation of Dr. Frank Dashwood in The Schroedinger's Cat Trilogy. Dashwood, named after the founder of the most infamous incarnation of the Hellfire Club, and Prong both hold the enviable, if somewhat challenging, position of head of the Orgasm Research (Foundation)."
Not too late to grab a copy of the Hilaritas edition and take part! Also, a review is promised soon of the new Alan Moore-Steve Moore book, The Bumper Book of Magic.
A short, animated adaptation of Illuminatus! ten minutes long, will be screened at Film Quest in Provo, Utah, on Oct. 30. Here are details from the guy who made the film, Chris Kalis (of the Chandeliers). Details from Mr. Kalis:
"The festival also has a virtual program and it will also be playing there, so people can buy tickets to view it online during the festival dates.
"The short film is a culmination of about 8 years of work involving over 50 animation student collaborators at DePaul University in Chicago (where I teach animation). It also features voice acting by Alex Cox, Jon Glaser, and Gregg Turkington.
"The full short film is 10 mins long ... it works as a short introduction to the world of Illuminatus!
"I still make music, my band Chandeliers is now focused on an electronic music radio show we do on lumpenradio.com called Chando Radio and I am in an electronic group called Drasii."
As part of that big election in the U.S. you may have heard about, full legalization of marijuana is on the ballot in Florida next month; there's a full article up at Reason magazine's website, "Big Pot Vs. Big Government in Florida". The proposal has some problematic aspects, but it would still be a big victory for legalization. Florida voters apparently favor legal weed, but state questions require a 60% majority to pass in Florida, so the question may fail after getting majority support.
If you've been waiting by the mailbox for your copy of Tales of Illuminatus to be delivered by the mailperson, you won't have to wait much longer.
From Bobby Campbell: "Very happy to report that my phone has been buzzing all afternoon with notifications that Tales of Illuminatus! #1 is now shipping world wide!"
"A quick word of glowing praise for Gabriel Kennedy's Chapel Perilous: The Life & Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson (Available Oct 22! https://amzn.to/3Y5xjVz)
"An absolutely spellbinding trip through the lives and ideas of Robert Anton Wilson, a book about RAW that is just as fun as reading a book by RAW, and an instant classic of Discordian lore. Gabriel Kennedy's exhaustive research has allowed him to paint a vividly intimate portrait of the artist as a complex, heroic, and indefatigable craftsman of a better tomorrow. And what's more, Kennedy not only gives us a great look at the man, but also the chaotic times in which he lived, and the zeitgeist in which he worked.
"RAW's famous incorrigible optimism is given full heartbreaking context, with an unflinching look at the reality of the situation on planet earth, but also a full serving of that stern stuff RAW was made of what allowed him to push the great work forward despite it all.
"Gabriel Kennedy has done the impossible work of pulling yet another cosmic trigger, and adding an indispensable, multidimensional, cornerstone to the hyperspatial structure of Robert Anton Wilson's magnificent oeuvre. Chapel Perilous is open all night! And ready whenever you are :)))"