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Deadlines: A Rhapsody on a Theme of Famous and Infamous Last Words
The Accidental Aphorist is comprised of hundreds of reflections and aphorisms, maxims, pensees, fulminations and regrets, amusements, which have been gleaned from almost forty years of the author's notebooks. The far-ranging themes include the writing life, creativity, love, death, travel, art, soul, mythology and legend, movies, politics, mentorship, and sports. These coruscating passages are the sparks and threads that have led Phil Cousineau to write over 40 books, more than 25 documentary scripts, two dozen televsion scripts, and have inspired hundreds of his popular writing workshops and retreats.
Writing with the same admixture of philosophical inquiry, aesthetic curiosity, wacky word-play, quick-witted word portrait, and irreverent humor that is threaded through all of his work, Phil Cousineau has created a modern chrestomathy that reflects his dual passion for learning and teaching. The Accidental A Curiosity Cabinet of Aphorisms, Maxims, Epigrams, Pochades and Pensées, Gnomic Sayings, Laconics, Notebook Jottings, Back Thoughts, and Afterthoughts, is meant to stoke and provoke, jolt and cajole the idling imagination.
Writing with the same admixture of philosophical inquiry, aesthetic curiosity, wacky word-play, quick-witted word portrait, and irreverent humor that is threaded through all of his work, Phil Cousineau has created a modern chrestomathy that reflects his dual passion for learning and teaching. The Accidental A Curiosity Cabinet of Aphorisms, Maxims, Epigrams, Pochades and Pensées, Gnomic Sayings, Laconics, Notebook Jottings, Back Thoughts, and Afterthoughts, is meant to stoke and provoke, jolt and cajole the idling imagination.
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
Phil Cousineau
66 books98 followersPhil Cousineau is the award-winning author of The Wisdom of the Odyssey and over forty other books, including the bestselling The Art of Pilgrimage, The Hero’s Journey, and Once and Future Myths. With more than 40 books and 25 scriptwriting credits to his name, the "omnipresent influence of myth in modern life" is a thread that runs through all his work.
A writer, filmmaker, storyteller, and cultural historian, Phil has consulted on mythology and story for major studios including Warner Brothers, Pixar, and Lucasfilm. A protege of mythologist Joseph Campbell, Cousineau began his career teaching screenwriting classes on Myth and the Movies at the American Film Institute in the 1980s.
He was co-writer and host of Link TV/PBS-TV's Global Spirit, the "inner travel" television series, which Bill Moyers called "more important than journalism today." His documentary films have won more than 25 international awards, including the Academy Award-nominated, Forever Activists.
Born in an army hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, Cousineau grew up in Detroit, Phil Cousineau has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 40 years. All of his grandparents were French-Canadian.
A writer, filmmaker, storyteller, and cultural historian, Phil has consulted on mythology and story for major studios including Warner Brothers, Pixar, and Lucasfilm. A protege of mythologist Joseph Campbell, Cousineau began his career teaching screenwriting classes on Myth and the Movies at the American Film Institute in the 1980s.
He was co-writer and host of Link TV/PBS-TV's Global Spirit, the "inner travel" television series, which Bill Moyers called "more important than journalism today." His documentary films have won more than 25 international awards, including the Academy Award-nominated, Forever Activists.
Born in an army hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, Cousineau grew up in Detroit, Phil Cousineau has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 40 years. All of his grandparents were French-Canadian.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 3, 2017
Oh man, I dunno. I just wish...
I would be really interested to read a book that lists the famous last words of tons of people. I also like reading poetry. A book of poetry that is almost entirely lists of famous last words of tons of people is... not really poetry. It's lists broken up into poetic lines. Being neither one nor the other, this book ended up in a disappointing no-man's-land and, about halfway through, lost my interest.
There were a couple of shorter more personal poems among the lists, and I liked those! I would like to read more of those! But I didn't want to keep reading lists and so I stopped.
I would be really interested to read a book that lists the famous last words of tons of people. I also like reading poetry. A book of poetry that is almost entirely lists of famous last words of tons of people is... not really poetry. It's lists broken up into poetic lines. Being neither one nor the other, this book ended up in a disappointing no-man's-land and, about halfway through, lost my interest.
There were a couple of shorter more personal poems among the lists, and I liked those! I would like to read more of those! But I didn't want to keep reading lists and so I stopped.
April 1, 2011
This is the only book I've rated amongst all the books i'm listing. I'll also have you know that I had to go to the 4th page of books to find this book and without a cover photo. Do you know what a particular person said just before they died? How about Winston Churchill? What did he say? For those persons that actually saw the heavens or a bright light, what did they share with us in their last moments? How many of you have read this book? This book is by Phil Cousineau.
September 15, 2024
It was an extremely intriguing read, mingling poetry, prose, and so many last words of the famous across history. As Wallace Stevens said: "Death is the mother of beauty."
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews