Enjoy Delusionism Engineered By Anthony Marais Publication

is a collection of essays intended to provoke thought about art and life, The author adresses the reader directly, as if sitting at a cafe, popping out quips and expounding on all matter of subjects from the obscure to the commonplace,

The book is divided into three parts, Part One is entitled "Culture vs, Nature" with meditations on Sleeping, Eating, Sex and Love, Part Two is a collection of "Aphorisms, " And Part Three "Art vs, Life" discusses modern art, literature, kitsch, Cabbage Patch Dolls and Pet Rocks,


delusionism n,. Philosophy. A philosophy that regards nature as truth and all manifestations of culture as delusion, emphasizes the unity of human experience in an indifferent universe, and stresses the use of dreaming and escapism as a means to selfactualization delusionist adj.
amp n. In "Delusionism", Anthony Marais presents roughly sixtynine microessays, whose two sections Culture vs, Nature and Art vs. Life are divided by a hundred aphorisms, This is a forkedtongueincheek exploration and oration, marketed as philosophy/self helpsomewhat in the vein of Bierce's "Devil's Dictionary", but intending more to drive thought through humor than humor through thought.


The book is filled with thoughtsand thoughts about thoughtsand I was tempted to refer to its points heavily in this review, I was, in retrospect, surprised to not find an essay on Conversation or Discussion, though it's likely there was a fitting aphorism I'm not recalling, Regarding Genius, Marais says:

Has the reader ever noticed that thinking is easy For most of us it's more difficult not to think than the contrary, It seems that with every turn of the head our brain showers us with thoughts, flashing across our mind's sky like fireworks, Indeed, the rush of ideas is a delightful feeling, Sometimes it seems to palpably flow through our body in a euphoric, almost tickling sensation, Interestingly, it's often ideas we perceive as untruths that tickles us most: absurd, ridiculous thoughts that produce outrageous images, People who, with a haphazard turn of the head, stumble upon these thoughts sometimes find themselves giggling aloud in public, or walking with a silly, conspicuous skip, This is genius: the ability to produce freely and easily new thoughts, And the sensation is pleasurable,

It is genius, this genius, that Marais seems to strive for with this book and from how often I laughed along, I think he often hit his mark.
With a wink and a nudge, he delivers essays on topics ranging from Originality and The Quest For Happiness to Pet Rocks and Books vs, Movies. Some play straight, some versoand others strive for double duty, contradicting not only convention, but, subtly perhaps, themselves as well,

Of course, some insights are more clever than otherssome are obvious, some simply plain, and some a bit muddled, But the overall attempt, I think, makes a very worthwhile platter of intellectual finger food that could well be grown into a banquet given the right crowd, I found myself half wanting to keep notes as I read, to argue back with the author and see where more thoughts ledso perhaps this is a book better read with a friend.
But I suspect the author would be pleased even with my reaction to those essays I was not moved by, or felt were less than a hundred percent presented: I thought.


If this sounds interesting, you might also consider our review of The Cure sitelink gudmagazine. com/review/arc a novel by Anthony Marais, Im an American living in Europe, I lived in Paris for two years where I studied language and art history, before going to Berkeley to study anthropology and later Simon Fraser University

in Canada to study archaeology, focusing on the prehistory of Polynesia.
In, I moved to Germany where I began to write essays and literary fiction, Since, Ive been living in Prague where I teach writing and film at the Anglo American University, Im the author of four books and a screenplay co written with Polish film director Jarek Marszewski, I'm an American living in Europe, I lived in Paris for two years where I studied language and art history, before going to Berkeley to study anthropology and later Simon Fraser University in Canada to study archaeology, focusing on the prehistory of Polynesia.
In, I moved to Germany where I began to write essays and literary fiction, Since, I've been living in Prague where I teach writing and film at the Anglo American University, Im the author of four books and a screenplay co written with Polish film director Jarek Marszewski, sitelink.