Lost in the Cosmos : The Last Self-Help Book
Author: Walker Percy
List Price: $14.00
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ISBN: 0312253990
Publisher: Picador USA (01 April, 2000)
Sales Rank: 5,270
Average Customer Rating: 4.54 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Aptly Titled
Contrary to what other reviews stated, this IS a self-help book. In fact, it is ultimately superior to all other self-help books because Percy strikes to the core of the reason why we buy so many of these books. Percy's view of Man at his current stage is that we are all existentialist but we don't know it. At least, we can't bring ourselves to face our existentialism. We have lost any of the authentic views of the self (i.e. the God-self relationship, the philosopher, etc.) that we once had and find ourselves unable to explain, or even contemplate, the existence of a 'triadic' entity in a 'diadic' universe. We are, thus, 'Lost in the Cosmos.' You must read this book multiple times, however, because by the end of the book you will have expanded your intellect so widely that you must re-examine the beginning. In the end, we may discover why we are so screwed up, therefore requiring those '10 million self-help books.'The only flaw may be one of ommission. Percy neglects to discuss an ancient, possibly authentic, view of the self: the citizen-self.
Rating: 5 out of 5
The errant, prodigal Southerner facing the millenium
I especially sympathised with Percy when I first read this book. I had just finished all of his novels (of which there are too few) and was at a fairly confusing time of my life. A college sophomore frustrated and confused by the surrounding societal constructs, I was fascinated at Percy's insights into the human psyche. By identifying how alone we all feel in a world full of people, he makes us feel less alone. He explains our morbid fascination with all things tragic and makes us feel okay about them. He explains prejudice without justifying it. He endorses Dixie beer. With his novels, Percy has taken the pathos of the likes of Faulkner and adapted it to contemporary times, and this book tears away at its inner workings. I have reread this book every six months for the last four years and it never loses its poignancy.
Rating: 1 out of 5
hardbound spam
This is the first Walker Percy book I read. I thought his stuff was supposed to be funny. I'll try another. I suggest you give this one a miss, unless you've never read a self-help book, then perhaps this would be more entertaining than doing so.Some of his questions recall late nights as a college student, gabbing on the sofa rather than studying.
Really, the calibre of the humour -- inane -- reminded me of the kind of spam I used to get and that now gets deleted unread.
Skip it. Any reputation he has as a humourist can't be founded on this effort.
Instead, read Henry Miller's The Cosmological Eye. Then, sit on a sofa with a college student 'til 3 a.m.
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