Omar Khayyam Books

I want to begin by refuting the criticisms of an earlier review, which claims that this version of FitzGerald's Rubaiyat edited by Christopher Decker is "extremely rude" and "biased" in its view of Islam, and "unprofessional" in terms of editing. These statements are patently false, as anyone who took the time to read the book carefully would know. Of the "enraging opinions" that the reviewer referred to, none were written by Christopher Decker; on the contrary, one came strainght from FitzGerald himself, and was included in the original editions of the Rubaiyat:

Regarding the Muslim calendar, Fitzgerald wrote in an endnote for the forth tetrastich (included in all four original editions): "NEW YEAR--Beginning with the Vernal Equinox, it must be remembered; and (howsoever the old Solar Year is practically superseded by the clumsy Lunar Year that dates from the Mohammedan Hijra) still commemorated by a Festival that is said to have been appointed by the very Jamshyd whom Omar so often talks of, and whose yearly Calendar he helped to rectify." Again, these are FitzGerald's words, NOT Decker's, and we can only be thankful that there is finally a solid, scholastic edition of these works available--one that takes the trouble to include FitzGerald's original notes. In any case, these words are hardly "enraging"--they are about as unprepossessing as could be written by a Victorian pen; and, moreover, it would be well to keep in mind FitzGerald's known preference for "Persian" over "Arabic", for example, in transcription of words into Roman letters--a bias of the poet, not his editor.

Again, the reviewer complained of the reference to Mohammed as a "false prophet". This comes from the forth Appendix to our edition of FitzGerald, wherein Decker provides extensive glosses for the Persian terms that occur in the Rubaiyat--far more extensive that FitzGerald's rather laconic annotation. Most of these notes are in fact translations from a French reference book written by Barthelemy D'Herbelot and published in 1697--the reason for the selection of this odd (and certainly Eurocentric) book is its recognized influence on FitzGerald at the time he was doing his translation: he possessed a copy of D'Herbelot's dictionary, and he regarded it quite highly. We can presume, then, that much of what he knew of Persian culture came from this source. The particular offensive quotation comes from page 252 of the present edition: [regarding the founder of the garden Iram]--"Mohammed mentions this impious man with horror in his Koran, and yet the Muslims who wish to enjoy sensual pleasures in Paradise, as promised time after time by their false prophet, often use the word "Iram" to characterize it." But remember, this is merely a translation from a seventeenth century French reference. These are certainly not Decker's words, nor are they FitzGerald's. To call them such is almost willfully perverse--certainly an amateur misreading.

I have read the book entire, and at no point is the editor ever "rude" or unprofessional. Quite the contrary: this book is the most scholastic, most critically rigorous version of FitzGerald's Rubaiyat produced to date. It includes the full text (including introductions and endnotes) from the four versions of the Rubaiyat published in FitzGerald's lifetime, and several extremely useful textual apparatuses: a pronouncing dictionary for Persian words, a comparative table of the quatrain selection and sequencing in the different versions, a collection of FitzGerald's Latin versions of Omar, an elaborate glossary (mentioned above--mostly translations from a French reference FitzGerald was known to have consulted), and, of course, elaborate notes on textual sources and editorial emendations. All this is prefaced by an introduction of over thirty pages, giving the stories of Omar Khayyam and Edward FitzGerald, and of the latter's interest in Persian literature in general, and the Rubaiyat in particular.

As a lover of the Rubaiyat in all its forms, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a critical text of FitzGerald's famous translation. It may not be the prettiest version available--the only illustration occurs on the title page--but, after all, the poetry is what we come for, and FitzGerald's rhymes have never seen such careful treatment as Decker gives them in this excellent book.

Edward FitzGerald's translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is an enormous accomplishment although it is not true to the original Persian (the Avery/Heath-Stubbs version is more faithful). Another important fact to note is that FitzGerald worked on his translation over a period of several decades and eventually published four different editions. Modern editions are often a compilation of bits and pieces from each of FitzGerald's four editions, something that doesn't always make for the smoothest reading. This Critical Edition, edited by Christopher Decker, goes a long way towards overcoming these problems.

In this edition, an introduction written by Decker provides very good and much needed background for Khayyam's work. Most importantly, all four of the author's editions are included in their entirety, first individually and then, in an appendix, by quatrain, so one can compare the texts. A table providing the sequence of the quatrains is also provided, a pronunciation guide and a small glossary. An added bonus, to be found only in this edition, I believe, is the inclusion of FitzGerald's Latin translation of the poems.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is beautiful and classic poetry encompassing simple quatrains where East seems to meet West in a mingling of Eastern mysticism and Western language and expression of the nineteenth century.

Anyone who is serious about these gorgeous poems will find this text most useful. Although this is not the most visually beautiful of the translations, it is certainly the most comprehensive and the one that will most enhance your knowledge. Definitely worthy of adding to your collection. In fact, a necessity.

Whether at Naishapur or Babylon,
Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run,
The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop,
The Leaves of Life keeps falling one by one.

By the way: To put this dispute to rest once and for all, Omar Khayyam was a Persian, which means he was essentially Zoroastrian.

omar khayyam is a much romanticized poet; his work is essential to any collection of books. fitzgerald's translations bear as much relevance to the victorian era as much as khayyam's work bears as both a Muslim poet and a timeless wordcrafter for the ages to admire and appreciate.
this edition is extremely useful, with christopher decker's insightful notes always a helpful guide to the multiple editions of the poetry and an excellent source of knowledge on khayyam's work as well as the victorian age.
i would recommend this book to all readers, since it's the essential translation of the rubaiyat. christopher decker is to be highly commended for his excellent work.
to quote keats on another translation-
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star'd at the Pacific--and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise--
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
...BR>buy this book and enjoy it-- it's a good friend.

I wish I could have met him! I feel sure that the translation as good as it is does not capture his wisdom and brilliant verse.
"Omar" still sends a message of love that transcends to all people.
My favorite is:

"Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,
A Flask if Wine, a Book of verse--and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness--
And Wilderness is Paradise enow"

That is a pot of gold! Cherish it if you can?

In the Fitzgerald text that HH Yogananda comments, the Persian poem is not truly TRANSLATED: that is well explained in the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Yogananda dispensed with real translations to base his commentary on. That was unwise, for translators of the poem see how great the differences are between Fitzgerald's work and a translation of Omar's poem. With such an infirm basis to work on top of, the "interpretations of Omar" by Yogananda become formidable hocus-pocus - they are, rather, what he reads into Fitzgerald's book - which differs from the work of Khayyam considerably.

(1) In this process Yogananda uses mistranslations as deep symbols to interpret; hence ERRONEUS guru dealings.

(2) He repeats himself up to gruesomely by STOCK PHRASES - very boring to some.

(3) MESS: To complicate things further, there are today TWO VERSIONS that lay claims on bringing Yogananda's (non-savoury) interpretations. These independent versions often differ. It means you may not be sure you get the true wordings of Yogananda - after the essentials of Khayyam have been done away with by Fitzgerald.

CONCLUSION SO FAR: In this work there is too much inept or senile-looking handling to deal with.

as interpreted by Yogananda. Here Yogananda does a commentary
on "the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam." Also an interpretation. Yogananda made
the fatal error of believing that there was only one religion or truth. And that he,
himself, could discern it in all religions. He did that with the Bible. He does
this here with a Sufi poem. But this is a fine book. Very beautiful. But Yogananda's
Self-Realization Fellowship was and is Hinduism straight up the middle. Not
Original Christianity and Original Yoga as he claimed. So this book is an Islamic
poem as interpreted by a Hindu. And I think that you had better realize that
before you buy this book. And it is a beautiful book. Yogananda was always a
great writer. Most of his books are real "choppy" because they are taken from talks.
But when he wrote, it was excellent. He was quite a writer. And it comes out
in this book. But if you want the "real stuff," buy Yogananda's "God Talks to

Arjuna." Thank you.

The spiritual interpretation of "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" by Paramahansa Yogananda reveals to the reader the depth of Yogananda's spiritual understanding and attainment. Yogananda interprets the poems in a very esoteric manner which leaves all sincere readers on the spiritual path breathless with admiration and veneration for Omar Khayyam.

Yogananda's commentaries on these poems will bring every scholar on mystical Islam to shame. His depth of understanding on Sufism is a welcome diversion of Yogananda's main spiritual books. Yogananda's main goal was to show the unity of Hinduism and Christianity to the West. But this book clearly shows to the world that Yogananda DID NOT neglect the second most popular religion of this primitive earth - that is Islam.

The illustrations are amazingly beautiful with a touch of Islamic art. But it is the interpretations of the poems that this book shines out. There are three levels of interpretations of each poem. The word for word translation; the practical application of the poem and last but certainly not the least, the deeper spiritual meaning and application of the poems.

Lastly I would love to recommend this piece of timeless art to all the Muslims in this sordid world. The reason is because this book shows the reader the deeper aspect of Islam - which is Sufism. Muslim mystics like Rumi and Khayyam are dangerous to orthodox Muslims because these mystics have already realized Allah and are beyond the mundane rituals of basic Islam. Their state of spiritual attainment is similar to that of Yogananda, Jesus, Buddha, Ramakrishna, Sai Baba, and so on.

Thus no one is in a better position than Yogananda (except for those souls who have God realization), to interpret these poems the way Khayyam had intended it to be understood. I would also like to recommend other books about Sufism which would compliment this book beautifully.

This wonderful book is not just A TRANSLATION of the Rubaiyat, it is a collection of deep spiritual discourses which are meant as an exhortation to the soul (what we essentially are) to transcend beyond this ephemeral world of temporary illusion and to ever constantly search for the real truth which lies within every one of us.

"It takes one to know one," is here shown to apply to mystics. In this award-winning volume, Twentieth Century Indo-American sage Paramahansa Yogananda applies his irrepressible spiritual pursuit to Omar Khayyam's Twelfth Century masterpiece. Like most cultures through the ages, Kayyam's Persia was much friendlier to his mainstream career (in mathematics and astronomy) than to his spiritual revelations. The wondrous poetic beauties which sparkle through his Rubaiyat express his personal, non-canonical insights into Enlightenment (aka: the Kingdom of Heaven, Nirvana, Samadhi) are in metaphors - symbolisms whose spiritual implications register only for those "who have eyes to see" - who have themselves had a glimpse of higher spiritual realms.

The publisher of Wine of the Mystic has included an eye-opening foreword to this volume that puts these complexities into perspective, including 1) the fact that Edward FitzGerald (translator for the most famous English-language editions) only grudging acknowledged the mystical significance of the work, 2) FitzGerald's poetic techniques that faithfully capture the *spirit* of stanzas even when they are not linear translations, 3) the tradition among Sufi mystical poets of using wine as a symbol for Divine Intoxication.

Why should a poem that is merely (on the surface) a hymn to the joys of drunkenness survive for a millenium and continue to fascinate cultures around the world in languages so unlike its author's? In his introductory words, Yogananda summarizes the miracle of FitzGerald's (apparently materialist) translation by called him "divinely inspired to catch exactly in gloriously musical English words the soul of Omar's writings." To those who have received a hint of the Divine Intoxication, a deep intuitive chord may be struck by Yogananda's explanation: "Profound spiritual treatises by some mysterious divine law do not disappear from the earth even after centuries of misunderstanding, as in the case of the Rubaiyat."

As to the book itself (Wine of the Mystic)? The awards it has won, the beauty of its color illustrations, tastefully selected type faces, and rich reproduction make this volume irresistable immediately upon opening its pages. Readers are then embraced by Yogananda's sensitive and unprecedented bouquet of insights as they are welcomed to a never before dreamed of wine-tasting.

There is *no* edition to compare. This volume will reward your reading and re-reading for years. A gorgeous gift item.

CONTENTS:
Introduction of author's (Yogananda) insights.
Foreword of publisher's (Self-Realization Fellowship) history and spiritual perspectives on the Rubaiyat's.
Presentation of each Rubaiyat quatrain, along with FitzGerald's translation, Yogananda's glossary of spiritual symbolism, Spiritual Commentary, and Practical Implications for the reader's spiritual work.
Addendum reprinting all of the verses (FitzGerald translation) without interruption.

I am a filmmaker who spent 7 years making a feature film about the legendary mathematician, astronomer, poet of Persia, Omar Khayyam. I cannot think of another book published in this world that gives a more complete and thorough understanding of Khayyam. Dr. Aminrazavi's book is a scholarly masterpiece that illuminates the reader's mind with well researched, solid facts debunking the myths surrounding Khayyam. Each chapter clearly lays out the author's own struggle with what is fact and what is fiction. The book also explores Khayyam's vast influence on literature in the West. If there is anyone out there who wants an encyclopedic look into the mind of the 11th Century genius with the soul of a poet, look no further...purchase Wine of Wisdom today!

The seems to be a lot of redundancy in the first part of the book but the overall information, history and review of the philosophy is well presented.
A very interesting book and enjoyable to read.

I've read some of Yogananda's original Rubaiyat commentaries in a long out of print magazine. Contrary to reader by the sea's 'opinion', this is definitely not a watered down version. Both the spirit and intent of Yogananda's efforts are well represented here.

This is an inspired and profound work. Poetic, deep, mystical, and beautiful. I can't recommend it highly enough. The other version that he refers to is very definitely not a word for word reproduction of Yogananda's original.

It's just amazing how someone could write something so deep

In editing the commentaries of Yogananda, JD Walters has lost a lot of the beauty that his master was bringing out. Most of the master's wordings are completely changed. Instead of normal editing, this work contains a mass paraphrasing and watering down of Yogananda's fine work.

Also recomended:WINE OF THE MYSTIC, by Paramahansa Yogananda,(SRF publishers)contains a very beautifully edited true representation of the masters expressions.Plus many commissioned works of art and a unique forward.

I've enjoyed reading these excerpts again and again. This book makes a great gift for anyone who is a fan of Khayyam's Rubaiyat. Yogananda's interpretations and paraphrases add new meaning and life to an old classic.

I quote one here, from Stanza 6:

"God is Eternal Silence. To those who love Him purely He speaks through the voice of silent intuition."

This is one of the best literature translation books that I have read. The author must have been well versed in both languages. Usually, to bring out the true meaning of the words in literature is most challenging. The author conveys perfectly the philosophy, and the message of Omar Khayam poetry. I highly recommend this book. It is well illustrated with beautiful paintings. It is very pleasing to look at, and easy to follow.

I first read Edward's Fitzgerald's version of the Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam when I was a freshman in College many years ago. I have never forgotten some of the quatrains of this very famous poem. Although some of the quatrains are purely mystical and that the universe is a manifestation of God, some of them show another side; they reveal a radical free thinker, who protests in the most forcible manner both against the narrowness and bigotry of the times. He struggles with the questions of life and death during his search for the truth.

Irandokht Malek's translation is a refreshing version of Hakim Omar Khayyam's famous poem. As a non-Persian, I feel that it is probably a truer expression, and a more romantic/spirtual version of the poet's real meaning, and view of life.

This book is well written and beautifully illustrated. I would recommend it highly to everyone.

Bill Eldredge

This book presents the poem in one verse per page, showing the author's English translation with the Persion below. Those who can read Persian will be able to draw their own conclusions as to the veracity of the translation. Readers familiar only with the Edward Fitzgerald translation will not recognize anything here. It is impossible even to place the two translations side by side for comparison, for they bear no resemblance to one another. It makes you wonder if they refer to the same poem! This version does suggest a somewhat greater philosophical depth than does the Fitzgerald, and loses the annoying Baroque tone that so trivializes that version. On the other hand, this translation reads fairly awkwardly, and one wishes the author had not attempted the rhyming. One can't help but feel that the English rhyming alone must have resulted in some degradation of the original meaning, if not the spirit of the verses. Perhaps some readers who know Persion can provide clarification. Finally, the book appears to be self-published. It has quite a lot of typos and seems to have lacked professional editing. Also, the first time I opened the book the spine broke and the pages began to fall out.

Many of Khayyam's quatrains make it seem unlikely that he is anything more than indifferent with respect to religious belief, heaven, hell, etc. In any case, there have been a wide variety of interpretations. (e.g. Christopher Hitchens includes Khayyam's quatrains as essential reading for atheists)

Why not just read them yourself and make up your own mind? Several of the best translations are all free, in the public domain, and available online through Project Gutenberg or WikiSource. Look for Fitzgerald, McCarthy, Whinfield, or even Richard Le Gallienne's paraphrase, which attempts to maintain the witiness of Khayyam.

Anything is preferable to having someone else tell you "for sure" what is meant - even if they're analysis is correct, isn't it better to figure it out for yourself?

Who has not heard or read these lines of beauty?

"Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough, A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse -- and Thou," or "The Moving Finger writes; and having writ, Moves on."?

These lines are from the first translation of The Rubaiyat by the English translator and man of letters, Edward FitzGerald (1809 - 1883). While it retains the spirit and philosophy expressed in the original quatrains, FitzGerald's translation was so free in its rendition as to be virtually an original work.
Omar Khayyam, poet, astronomer and mathematician was born in Persia in the latter part of the 11th century. His surname, Khayyam, means "tent-maker" although that undoubtedly referred to his father's trade more than to his own because actually, he was independently wealthy. He was a friend of Nizami, the Vizier of Baghdad who founded the great college of Baghdad, where Omar Khayyam was taught. Omar Khayyam lived in seclusion until Malik Shah appointed him Astronomer Royal, who, along with eight other scholars, revised the Muslim calendar. It seems certain that Khayyam was a Sufi mystic and kept his spiritual life hidden from superficial worldly minds.

"Omar," Paramhansa Yogananda has said, "by a very large number of Western readers, has come to be regarded as a rather erotic pagan poet, a drunkard interested only in wine and earthly pleasure. This is typical of the confusion that exists on the entire subject of Sufism. The wine is the joy of the spirit, and the love is the rapturous devotion to God?"

The Rubaiyat as well as the Tales of the Arabian Nights are not love stories about drunkards, genies, and magic caves filled with treasures, but mystical stories based on the religion of Sufism. Their encoded symbolism, when revealed, is deeply mystical and meaningful.

One example is the magic lamp of Aladdin. First, the meaning of the name: AL is Arabic for God, "ALLAH." DDIN is a transcription of the word DJINN (or we would say in the West, "Genie.") But in Arabic it means SPIRIT. Thus, ALADDIN means "The Spirit of God." Well, what is the magic lamp, then? The magic lamp is something we all possess in the depths (cave) of the subconscious, the MIND. What would it mean then that the "Spirit of God" rubs the "Mind"? This refers to the practice of meditation. By focussing on an idea, a single thought, our minds are capable of bringing about any reality we dream of. We are the co-creators of our own universe, our own lives. As Pogo, the comic strip character, said: "We have met the enemy, and it is we-uns." We are responsible for our own self-undoing, just as we are responsible for creating our own lives.

Secrecy and the practice of hiding deep truths behind a veil of exotic symbolism was the way the Sufis protected themselves against persecution for their unorthodox views. It is similar to the deep mysticism of the Jewish Kabala. The Sufis called their secret language QBL. The alchemists of the West used another example of hidden mysticism. Do you think they were really trying to transmute lead into gold, or were they trying to transmute the gross material of our bodies and souls into the golden glory of the spirit? If you think so, read John Randolph Price?s book published by Hay House, The Alchemist?s Handbook. Nostradamus and Leonardo daVinci also hid their writings in obscure diaries and secret codes.

Paramhansa Yogananda accomplished much of the mystic discovery about Omar Khayyam in his book, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained. Paramhansa Yogananda was one of the great spiritual beacons of the 20th century. His Autobiography of a Yogi, first published in 1946, has been a best-selling autobiography for the past fifty years. Yogananda was born in India in 1893 and sent to this country in 1920 where he founded the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles, California, a non-sectarian and universal organization. His close friend and editor of the book on the Rubaiyat, J. Donald Walters, also known as Kriyananda, wrote: "Yogananda's charity, compassion, unshakable calmness, loving friendship to all, delightful sense of humor and deep insight into human nature were such as to leave me constantly amazed."

The first time I encountered this book was in the 10th Grade and I have been mesmerized by it ever since. The author gives extraordinary metphors and allows the reader to interpret the poetry how it best fits them. He speaks of most of the joys there is on this wonderful world and takes you to places you have never been before. I would recommend this wonderful book to anyone who loves poetry.

This is a book of rather peculiar interpretations of Omar Khayyam's "Rubaiyat" in the famous translation by Edward FitzGerald. Mr. Yogananda takes the 75 quatrains of the first translation of 1859 and adds to each a paraphrase, an "extended meaning" and what he calls "keys to meaning."

The purpose of this book, however, is to illustrate Mr. Yogananda's beliefs with the poetry of Omar Khayyam, not to explain or comment the quatrains.

Quatrain number 52 is one of the most materialistic, even fatalistic, of Omar Khayyam's poems:

And that inverted Bowl we call The Sky,
Whereunder crawling coop't we live and die,
Lift not thy hands to It for help - for It
Rolls Impotently on as Thou or I.

(in the standard 101 quatrain-edition of Edward FitzGerald this poem is number 72 and reads more correctly: "And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky, / Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die, / Lift not your hands to It for help - for It / As impotently moves as you or I.")

Mr. Yogananda paraphrases it as "Sun, Moon, stars, and planets pass athwart the sky as though in a slow celestial dance. Their movements correspond to the decrees of the Cosmic Law. Their changing configurations are choreographed, like the events in our lives. The stars and planets themselves can no more choose how they will affect us than we can select our own karmic destinies. Look not to the stars, then, for help if you would change your lot. Look to God. He it was who made you and all the stars. He it was who first determined the workings of karmic law."

God and "karmic law" figure prominently in Mr. Yogananda's interpretations of the other quatrains, too. However, the connection between the poems and Mr. Yogananda's interpretation is in all cases very flimsy and arbitrary. In Omar Khayyam's quatrain about the indifference of nature towards human suffering it is definitely far-fetched to claim that he wanted the reader to look to God and remind him of the "karmic law" when he wrote this poem. Rather, it seems the opposite was the case.

Omar Khayyam asks many questions about life and life's meaning in his quatrains. Mr. Yogananda claims to have all the answers. I prefer to stay with the questions and find my own answers. One of which is: no, Omar Khayyam was no yogi.

If you want the best of mysticism and poetry, read this beautiful and deep book. I've fallen in love again with reading poetry, and I've been given a new understanding of eastern wisdom.

Even though the commentaries are full of esoteric wisdom, Yogananda writes in a poetic style that is easy on the eyes, mind, and soul.

I quote from Yogananda here: "Come, fill the Cup of Consciousness with the divine wine of bliss! Cast away your material desires (deceitful, because forever disillusioning), and fling into the crackling fire of fresh spiritual enthusiasm your robe of penitence for having ever indulged in them."

Early on there was much ado about this version being sub standard. Phooey! Graphic wise and print wise it is an improvement over the edition of the Pricipa Discordia I own (Yellow cover). I for one am grateful that this holy book is back in print. Although, the reason I held back a star was for the high price. Hail Eris! Hail Discordia!

This is nothing but a rewritten, and copyrighted! version of the Principia. Go for another version, or get one online in either text, html, or pdf format.

This book should not have a copyright, but should be copyleft, all rights reversed, reprint what you like!

This book was derived from PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA created in the 1970s and purposefully put into the public domaine by its authors, both of whom are now in the "spirit" world. Public domaine material belongs to the public and ANYONE and take it and do ANYTHING they want with it. Public domaine material that is substantially changed and/or put together in a different way becomes a "creative" work and can be copyrighted.

Discordians who consider Principia Discordia to be their bible, have a motto: "There are no rules!' But they do not mean what they say, because they now maintain that there is a rule - don't touch Principia Discordia and don't copyright any new edition. Duh? Ronin published this book. Anyone who knows anything about Ronin (Japanese unindentured samurai - wave man) knows that Ronin do what they damn well please, including breaking stupid, backward, rigid "rules". Many of Ronin's book offend the narrow minded and hypersensitive.

Now, when has a copyright stopped a Discordian? Literary thieves are stealing copyrighted material constantly and posting it on line, photocopying it, selling it on the side and so forth. Copyrights are for the mainstream book trade and so-called legitimate publishers.

Some Discordians are annoyed with DISCORDIA. So what?! Ronin's reply: "If you don't like this edition, go out and create one of your own." And, oh, you better have a bucket of money and you better not expect to make money - 'cause you gotta be rich to engage in the folly of publishing. It is exceedinly difficult to make money in publishing. For example, all those books in brick and mortor bookstores - have NOT been purchased. They have been "ordered". Then when the store gets the distributor's bill, they just return 'um. Returns, even in pristine condition, are considered "damaged" and unsellable in bookstores. Independent small publishers like Ronin Publishing are burdoned with about 30% returns (Big time New York publishers can easily run 50% returns). It is practically a magic trick to stay in business when 30 cents of the manufacturing dollar is considered unsellable trash. Of course, there is production, overhead, shipping, storage, and marketing - and royalty - all of which much come out of 40% (it's actually less) of the retail. We're talking pennies potential profit per unit sold. The creation of DISCORDIA took many, many months and Potter has yet to be paid a penny for this creative Work. And she (I) ain't holding her breath.

Contrary to several assertions in these "reviews", considerable new material was added to DISCORDIA and many many new illustrations. Illustrations can not be "stolen" from public domaine. You, I and everyone owns PD material. It is ours. Perhaps meaning in some places was altered, as accused. Oh? Hummmm, doesn't that fit into chaos and confusion? Who are these pseudo-Discordians with pc-mentality and their brains inside the box?

This book was created because the material is hallarious and brilliant. However, the original 1970s book was laid out by hand, and crammed into pages--as characteristic of old low budget works. Being so crammed and condensed it was hard to read. The illustrations were similarly crammed and a whole lot more were needed. Pulling the material out, enlarging it and adding to it - makes it more readable. Also, this edition is way more "commercial" and the cover "catchy" - which makes it accessible to readers who don't know about Discordia.

To DISCORDIANS: Stop harping about this edition breaking your rules. The authors put the book in the public domaine for you to play with. Get off of your rigid butts and create your own editions - or shut up about it - or keep complaining - thus revealing yourselves to not be pseudo-DISCORDIANS - pc-er than thou!

Hail Eris!!!!!

Alterations to the unalterable holy text improve the Godness quotient of this rampant publication.
Preternatural references to the Godless Padre Pederastia cannot help but uncover certain samenesses within blue typography.
Samoan natives try, and Alaskan King Crab weep. But, still, without copyright nor copyleft, nor common copies, all stand.

I regularly buy reprinted editions of public domain works. Please support the publisher by buying a used copy. Hail Eris.