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Anderson, Chester, and Michael Kurland, TEN YEARS TO DOOMSDAY, 1, 1964, Pyramid, PB (see Anderson, BUTTERFLY KID, 1967 entry). |
Borges, Jorge Louis, LABYRINTHS, 1964, New Directions, Trade.
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Burroughs, William, JUNKIE, 2, 1964, Ace Books, PB. A reissue of Burroughs Beat classic under his own name. See "Lee," 1950 entry. |
Butler, W. E., MAGIC AND QABALAH, 1964, Wehman, HB. Need Copy.
Camp, L. Sprague de, and Camp, Catherine C. de, ANCIENT RUINS AND ARCHAEOLOGY, 1, 1964, Doubleday, HB. This is a look at ancient civilizations and lost cities, published in science fiction and fantasy magazines from 1946 to 1962, with a heavy emphasis on the use of archaeology in similar literature. It's most interesting in that respect, but most of the factual information is dated. As with LOST CONTINENTS, there is a strong undercurrent of fringe baiting woven into the text (see 1973 entry).
Edwards, Frank, STRANGE WORLD, 1, 1964, Lyle Stewart, HB. Ace PB ed.,
shortly after, no date. See 1968 entry.
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Finney, Charles, G. THE CIRCUS OF DR. LAO, 3, 1964, Bantam, PB. Tie-in edition for the George Pal film version. See SEVEN FACES OF DR. LAO, below. |
A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (Per un pugno di dollari), Motion Picture, 1, 1964, Director: Sergio Leone, Italian release date. The Italian Western version of Kurosawa's YOJIMBO (1961), which in turn was inspired by Dashiell Hammett's RED HARVEST (1929) -- an Italian western inspired by a Samurai movie, which was inspired by a hard-boiled detective novel!! Who says some ideas and values aren't universal (see 1967 entry)? Contrary to general belief, Clint Eastwood did not make this film after the RAWHIDE T.V. show was cancelled. It was shot during a break in shooting before the last season of the show. It would take three years for it to reach U.S. screens.
George, Peter, DR. STRANGELOVE, 1964, Bantam, PB. Tie-in novel for Kubrick's classic movie (see 1963 entries).
Gurdjieff, G. I., ALL AND EVERYTHING (FIRST SERIES), 1, 1964, Dutton, HB.
Hill, Douglas and Williams, Pat, SUPERNATURAL, THE, 1, 1964, Hawthorn/ Aldus Books, British ed., HB.
Hirst, Deseree, HIDDEN RICHES, 1964, Barnes and Noble, HB.
I CHING, Edited by Chi and Chi, Legge, James, Translation: 1, 1964,
University Books, HB. One of the many re-castings of Legge's scholarly
but outdated translation which began to appear in the 60's. This one found
a wider audience than most, due to Bantam Books' later reprint (see 1969
entry).
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Jung, C. G., et. al., MAN AND HIS SYMBOLS, 1964, Doubleday / Aldus Books, British Ed., HB. Designed to be Jung's book for the general reader, but it turned out to be his last writing project. "Approaching the Unconscious" is the only essay by Jung. The rest are by other Jungians. While this edition is a great read, in its coffee table format, it was the Dell paperback which spread like wildfire across college campuses (see 1968 entry). |
LAST MAN ON EARTH (L'ULTIMO UOMO DELLA TERRA), Motion Picture, 1964. An Italian/American co production of Richard Matheson's classic I AM LEGEND (1954, and below). Production values were pretty low, and the Italian locations never quite pass for the American setting, but it remains true to Matheson's original, and has a starlingly good performance from Vincent Price. This film was produced in two different versions, with an Italian Director, Ubaldo Ragona, for the Italian version, and Sidney Salkow for the English language version. Dispite all its flaws, far superior to the silly OMEGA MAN (1971 entry), also based on Matheson's novel. George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968 entry) also owes much to both the novel and this film.
Leary, Timothy, Metzner and, Ralph, Alpert, Richard, PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE, THE, 1964, University Books, HB. Subtitled: A MANUAL BASED ON THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD. A volume by three pioneers in the study of drugs and the mind. Shortly, they were to become the "superstars" of the psychedelic scene. Dr. Tim became the biggest star of all. Ralph went on to be a major force in the "human potential" movement. Richard went to India, found God, and became "Ram Dass." I'm not sure if this next bit of hindsight is meaningful or not: Note that the publisher, University Books, was one of the largest publishers of occult and mystical titles in the U.S. at the time. Considering the trio's later activities, it's hard not to wonder if this may have meant something at the time.
Legge, Francis, FORERUNNER AND RIVALS OF CHRISTIANITY, 1964, University Books, HB. 2 vols.
Lewis, C. S., DISCARDED IMAGE, THE, 1, 1964, Cambridge University Press,
HB. See 1967 entry.
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Lovecraft, H. P., COLOR OUT OF SPACE, THE, 2, 1964, Lancer, PB. |
Lovecraft, H. P., LURKING FEAR AND OTHER STORIES, THE, 1, 1964, Panther Books (St. Albans, British ed), PB. See 1971 entry.
Maltz, Maxwell, PSYCHO-CYBERNETICS, 1, 1964, Wilshire Book Co. (Los Angeles, CA), Trade. I don't think this title has been out of print since the day it was published. Maltz took a little Zen, a little Wiener (HUMAN USE OF HUMAN BEINGS), and some common sense, and out came the great grandad of all "human potential" self-help books. Unlike its later children, this one actually works in practice (see Adam Hall, QUILLER MEMORANDUM, 1965 entry).
Margulies, Leo, ed., WEIRD TALES, 1, 1964, Pyramid, PB. This anthology
and its mate (1965 entry) signal a slow building of a revival of interest
in the WEIRD TALES group of writers such as H. P Lovecraft (see above).
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Matheson, Richard, I AM LEGEND, 3, 1964, Bantam, 1965, PB. Curiously enough this edition is not a movie tie-in edition, and mentions nothing about THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (above) anywhere on its covers. |
Miller, Henry, BLACK SPRING, 2, 1964, Grove Press, PB.
McLuhan, Marshall, UNDERSTANDING MEDIA: THE EXTENSIONS OF MAN, 1, 1964, McGraw Hill, HB. See 1965 entry.
Mundy, Talbot, I SAY SUNRISE, 1964, De Vorss and Company (Los Angeles, CA). Trade. Reprint of 1947 title. Talbot Mundy was born William L. Gribbon in 1879 Victorian England. After a disreputable career in Africa and India, he changed his name to Talbot Mundy, and immigrated to the US in 1909. He quickly established himself as a writer of high adventure tales. His stories and novels are all of a romantic/ mystical nature. This tendency became even more pronounced after he became involved with KatherineTingley's Theosophist community in Point Loma, California. Mundy became a regular contributor to her publication THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH. This title is a synthesis of his theosophical writings over the years. De Vorss is a small press which specialized in mystical literature, and got this out just a few years before the major Mundy revival in the late 60's (see OM, and other 1967 entries).
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, INTRODUCTION TO ISLAMIC COSMOLOGICAL DOCTRINE, 1, 1964, Harvard University Press, HB. See 1978 entry.
O'Brien, E. J., VARIETIES OF MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE, 1964, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, HB.
Pauwels, Louis, GURDJIEFF, 1, 1964, Times Press (Douglas, Isle of Man),
HB. Translation of 1954 French title MONSIEUR GURDJIEFF.
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Pauwels, Louis, and, Bergier, Jacques, MORNING OF THE MAGICIANS, 3, 1964, Stein and Day, HB. This is the American edition of LE MATIN DES MAGICIENS. A word about the title in English: the American title smacks of bad translation,and doesn't catch the meaning of the original very well. The British title DAWN OF MAGIC is a little better. The title would be best translated as THE DAWNING OF THE MAGICIANS. See "The Quixotic Dialectical Metaphysical Manifesto." |
Polanyi, Michael, SCIENCE, FAITH AND SOCIETY, 2, 1964, University of Chicago Press, HB and Trade. With new introduction by the author.
Priestley, J.B., MAN AND TIME, 1, 1964, Aldus Books (British Ed.), HB.
American edition? (See 1968 entry). Part of the same series of picture
survey books that produced Jung's MAN AND HIS SYMBOLS.
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Pynchon, Thomas, V., 2, 1964, Bantam, PB. I don't recall ever seeing a hardback copy of V. (with the exception of a later Modern Library reprint). This leads me to suspect that the main impact of V. came almost totally from its paperback edition. You couldn't walk across a college campus in the late 60's without seeing at least three people carrying a copy. |
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Rampa, T. Lobsang (Cyril Hoskin), THIRD EYE, THE, 1, 1964, Ballantine, PB. This volume really begins the paperback success story of the Rampa books. The next few titles were published by Bantam, and later volumes were published by Award Books (whose catalogue was mostly reprints from British Corgi Books). I think these books acted as a kind of advertisement for Tibetan Buddhism . I'm sure that they sparked a lot of interest in the nature of Tibetan belief and practice. Many of Alexandra David-Neel's books became popular again, as did Evans-Wentz's studies and translations. It cannot be a coincidence that the first Rampa book appeared just as Tibetans streamed out of their war ravaged country, bringing their unique religion with them. Of all the Eastern disciplines which came west in the 60's and 70's, the Tibetans have been the most quietly successful (cover shown is of a later printing). |
Rand, Ayn with Branden, Nathaniel, VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS, THE, 1, 1964,
New American Library, HB. See 1965 entry.
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REPORT ON THE PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION... AKA THE WARREN REPORT, 1, 1964, GPO, HB. This is the single most disastrous document ever published by the U.S. government. If most people believe that the government lies to them, this book is one of the main reasons. It was not so much that it lied to us, but that it also insulted our intelligence. Bantam pioneered the "instant book" by turning out a paperback copy over the weekend after the report's release. We include it among fantastic books because that's where it belongs. In this book, bullets can fly in a zig-zag path while changing velocity at will, in flight. Things like this happen in the Bermuda Triangle. |
Seabury, David, ART OF SELFISHNESS, 1, 1964, Julian Messner, HB. Reprint
1937 title. See 1974 entry.
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SEVEN FACES OF DR LAO, Motion Picture, 1964. Directed by George Pal. Screenplay by Charles Beaumont based on Charles G. G. Finney's classic fantasy THE CIRCUS OF DR LAO. The first half of the film does a pretty good job catching Finney's rather savage satire about small town minds coming into contact with the mystical and magical. The second half degenerates into a George Pal science fiction flick. Even the kids in the audience must have noticed the rather obvious use of stock footage from Pal's big turkey ATLANTIS, THE LOST CONTINENT (1961) as part of Lao's rather unneeded parable in the final reel. |
Shah, Idries, SUFIS, THE, 1, 1964, Doubleday, HB. See 1971 entry.
Siu, R.G.H., TAO OF SCIENCE, THE, 2 1964, M.I.T. Press, Trade.
Solomon, David, LSD: THE CONSCIOUSNESS EXPANDING DRUG, 1, 1967, Putnam, HB. See 1966 entry.
Southern, Terry, and Mason Hoffenberg, CANDY, 1, 1964, Putnam, HB. First published by Olympia Press, Paris, in 1958, under the pseudonym "Maxwell Kenton." Reissued by Olympia under the title LOLLIPOP in 1962. Candy's name is an allusion to Voltaire's CANDIDE, and the reissue title is a reference to LOLITA. Surely one of the greatest and most savage bits of social satire ever written.
Sullivan, Walter, WE ARE NOT ALONE, 1, 1964, McGraw Hill, HB. See 1966 entry.
Treece, Henry, EAGLE KING, THE, 1964, Random House, HB. Need Copy and info. NAL PB? British title: OEDIPUS.
Treece, Henry, CRUSADES, THE, 1964, Mentor, PB. Need Copy and Info.
Watts, Alan. BEYOND THEOLOGY, 1, 1964, Pantheon Books, HB.
Wiener, Norbert, GOD AND GOLEM, INC., 1, 1964, M.I.T. Press, HB.
Wilson, Colin SEX DIARY OF GERARD SORME, 2, 1964, Pocket Books PB. This is one of Wilson's early novels. All of the themes that would dominate his later works are here: sexual adventurism, serial murderers, plus the occult and the paranormal. Gerard Sorme gets involved with a practitioner of sex magic named Caradoc Cunningham, who is a thinly disguised Aleister Crowley. Another of Sorme's acquaintances turns out to be a modern day Jack the Ripper. Just another boring day in Jolly ole England! The novel is interesting to read just to witness the gestation of Wilson's themes (obsessions?) as they later appear in THE OCCULT (1971 entry). It also could be compared with R. V. Cassill's DR. COBB'S GAME (1972 entry) --but don't let me tell you what to do.
Yates, Francis A., GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION, 1, 1964, University of Chicago Press, HB. Bruno was one of the great Renaissance men: theologian, philosopher, scientist, occultist, political activist, heretic, and finally martyr. Bruno was one of the intellectual heroes of the 60's and 70's. This book is largely responsible for his rediscovery. Ms. Yates is a historian of ideas who has spent many years tracing the importance of Hermetic and occult ideas for the Renaissance and post- Renaissance thought. This is the first in a series of books she wrote on the subject. Her books were well read within the humanities and social sciences.
Young, Wayland, EROS DENIED, 1964, Grove Press, PB.
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