Stillpoint: Reflections From A Year On The Cliff

by Barrett Martin

Reflections From A Year On The Cliff is the third book of short stories from Grammy-winning producer and award-winning writer, Barrett Martin. Building on his previous books, The Singing Earth (2017) and The Way Of The Zen Cowboy (2019), Martin delivers Stillpoint , a collection of 18 short stories penned in a remote cliff house inside a wildlife refuge overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, between Washington State and British Columbia. As a local who grew up here, Martin refers to this magical area as Cascadia, a wild and dramatic place with fierce storms, enchanting forests, and magical bald eagles, ravens, hawks, screech owls, coyotes, raccoons, deer, bats, and the odd multicolored snake are just some of the many creatures that reside here and inspire the stories in this book. Stillpoint is also a Buddhist term for the moment between thoughts, when all mental chatter ceases and the clarity of Absolute Mind emerges from within. Drawing from his 25 years of Zen Buddhism, Martin recounts childhood memories, amusing animal stories, and environmental lessons learned from his decades of travel and ethnomusicology fieldwork with indigenous people around the world, including observations on the political and environmental turmoil that has enveloped the world. Like his previous books, Stillpoint also comes with an album of original music that serves as the soundtrack to Martin's stories. This soundtrack can be downloaded from a link inside the book, and features 15 original compositions that Martin wrote, performed, and recorded inside the same remote cliff house where these stories were written. Stillpoint is both a written philosophy as well as a sonic adventure. Both take the reader/listener on an extended journey into the wilderness of the great Pacific Northwest-and beyond.

112 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2021

Reviews

[Wayne Ballew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book from Barrett Martin. I’ve read his others as well and I’m never disappointed. To me his books fit well into the Adventure Travel category along with other greats such as Bill Bryson and Neil Peart. Both of those authors I thoroughly enjoy, so it was great to stumble upon Barrett’s books. Stories with adventure, life lessons, music, a dash of humanity, and a bit of humor, always make for great books in my opinion
Stillpoint was great book of short stories that I purposely took my time in reading. Reading maybe a chapter or two In a sitting. The Stillpoint CD that I purchased along with the book is full of fantastic music of Barrett’s as well. It was a added bonus that both items were autographed.
I highly recommend his work and hope he plans on writing more books in the future. I was able to get his latest book from his website. https://barrettmartin.com/
Happy reading