Televisionary Oracle

by Rob Brezsny

Millions of people already live their lives in accordance with Rob Brezsny's "Real Astrology" prophecies. But the time has come for a deeper dose of Brezsny's brain. The Televisionary Oracle is an archetypal roller-coaster that would make Rumi dizzy and leave Carl Jung gasping for breath.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Spirituality, Philosophy, Magical Realism, Novels, Romance

483 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2000

Reviews

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first tried to read this years ago and just couldn't get into it.
Then I let go of trying to understand it.
I want to eat it.

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weirdest f79king book I've ever read.

[Julia]

I've been in the middle of reading this for several years

[Michele Cacano · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book a whole heck of a lot more than I actually did. Nearly 500 pages of simultaneously grandiose and self-deprecating goddess worship and Bohemian musings. I can't swear that I wouldn't have liked this back when I was twenty-one or so, but, then again, I was twenty-one in the 1990s, which is an era that permeates this novel.

The chapters alternate between the stories and POVs of "Rockstar", a Dionysus-embodying singer/songwriter and head of a ritualistic performance art ridden rock band, and Rapunzel Blavatsky, the sixty-six-and-a-half-year-old reincarnation of notable spiritual and philosophical leaders as Persephone and Mary Magdalene, among others. While we learn of Rapunzel's whole life story, up to the novel's conclusion, we learn only of Rockstar's life from the meeting of Rapunzel.

I must confess to skimming much of Rockstar's chapters. His pages are filled with song lyrics, lists of artsy commandments, radical feminist musings and desires, and lots of pondering the goddess. It was easier to sink into more of Rapunzel's story, although there is way too much menstrual meditation, for my taste.

In between the chapters of Rapunzel and Rockstar are short invectives spoken directly to the reader from the Televionary Oracle itself, most of which I found repetitive and unnecessary.

A few good ideas have been rehashed and blended into somewhat appealing concept of self-guided metamorphosis and possible revolution, and there are some choice phrases here and there, but overall, it's overdone.

[Greg Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very odd. Tom Robbins on six hits of acid and without the vocab. Might like it if you like books that try to fuzz the boundary between reality and fiction. See also the Illuminatus Trilogy.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once I got over the preachiness, I rather enjoyed it. I reference it probably 2 times a week.... that's mark of a good book. Generally. Or a charismatic book at the very least. And this is that. It's worth reading, but the semi-autobiographical storyline of "Rockstar" is pretty much bullcrap.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

definitely one of the strangest and smartest books i've ever read. i'm reading it again now - maybe when i'm done i will actually be able to write a review that will do this insane story justice...

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a teenager, I was a big fan Rob Brezsny. Once I became more widely read, I realized that his ideas had more pastiche than originality in them.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very wordy exhibition of attentiveness, love, ego and the abandonment of it. A lot of the blurbs on the book said it would truly blow your mind, etc and I can see where there was a level of some deep and interesting soul devouring at play. I think “the new age” has evolved and emerged much more now than when it came out, so the language is different and less “hippie” sounding. It seems to be striving to be less weird than it is while still attempting to ground itself, so it ends up being distracting with all of its Keith Haring type of wordplay.

End of the day, I came out of this book with a lot of interesting insight and a stronger sense of metering our self, of awareness and of the knowledge that it’s okay to be yourself even if the vulnerability you’re showing feels awkward and embarrassing. You’re doing your place in the universe a grand gesture, and forever doing yourself a favor you’ll have paid back infinite times over your existence.

There’s sort of a love story at play as well, one that I didn’t care about by the time it came to be and one that I sort of felt didn’t need to end up coming to fruition. The two main character’s personal growth and life lessons throughout that with that love story as the backdrop was plenty without the need for a climax of it.

[Rohan Goswami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome to the entertainment wars, whoops, i almost forgot how to spell the word, where every act of sexual blasphemy, deserves at turn at the divine orgy, the loving kindness, and compassion so untranslatable from their origins in the padmasambhava texts. More esoteric than your perverted sharp dressed wall St. Man who will define and humiliate you, but you will stand up for it for a common cause, (common causes are worse than the military industry complex, in fact, they fund the common cause); let's take a minute, for the god, one and only, drunk and on narcotics, not a philanderer, that the goddess hides with infinite glee, a moment, to say, if not one, shunya not infinity. The godess also glees in that. I, of drivetime, not by sexuality, but grandmother's, grandfather's, and the female headresser of the drunk, take me to. One problem, it's made the drivetime, mine own, more accessible. But, at least there's a drivetime, that i discovered before the book, no menarches, none of that over sold , over bought, over the counter feminist bullshit, cruisin for beers, free. Not that i got. Women were a plenty b

[Virditas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard book to review. It is a sprawling megalomaniac, altruistic, generous book stuffed with sly wish-fulfilment, breathtaking prayers, brutal self-honesty, and transcendent passages. Then there are the moments when "more is more," and Brezeny's aesthetic of overwhelming imagery become almost a parody of the rich vein of beauty he channels. So the book is worth the reading...but I took this one in small doses. The generous spirit of the book is not overtaken by the raw mass of imagery, luckily! There is beauty here.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like pronoia better

[Jude Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it! Can't recommend this highly enough!

[B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A metaphorical codex on chaos magick.

[Damien · Rating 3 out of 5]

An otherwise well-written book, Rob Brezny sometimes lets his ego intrude upon the zany characters and plot of The Televisionary Oracle. This is a real shame, because there's some good stuff in here. The main problem is that the two main characters spend a spectacular amount of time talking about themselves, and doing so in a generally positive and slightly narcissistic manner. This leaves a bad taste because there seems to be a certain autobiographical tint to the proceedings, which left me thinking that the author was exactly the kind of sanctimonious gas-bag that he regularly takes the opportunity to discredit and lampoon in the book.

At times, this hypocrisy overflows into the philosophy of the book; otherwise its main attraction. For example, Brezny makes no attempt to hide his distaste (bordering on hatred) of materialist philosophy. This appears somewhat strange given that his main beef with materialists is that we're narrow minded. And yet the manner in which this philosophy is dismissed is, in itself, remarkably narrow minded, too. In fact, materialism isn't closed minded at all; it simply states that nothing is super natural, because if it happens, no matter how weird it might seem, it must be "natural".

But that aside, it is still a well-written book. And perhaps somebody who is more into the book's philosophy would be prepared to forgive its egocentricity and enjoy it anyway.

[Misti · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is so much I could say about this book. I read it back when I was 15 and was blown away by Brezsny's extraordinary prose and poetry. The book is a colorful interweaving of stories of our two protagonists learning to love and live in two worlds; the ordinary and the heaven-on-earth created by our own minds.

The book explores the intersting facets of charisma and love, escape and creation, and possibilities of everyday which often pass us by. Having recently read Paolo Coelho's The Witch of Portobello, I found myself comparing it (unfavorably) to Televisionary Oracle. To say Brezsny's writing is satisfying doesn't do it much justice. Even if you pick this up and don't care for the overall story, the prose will likely draw you back in.

A nicely rounded book for the searching soul in all of us.

[Red Kempf · Rating 5 out of 5]

What to say, what to say. This book is strange. Very strange, and I think quite marvelous. It follows two characters, Rockstar is our lead male, he gets the first and every third chapter. Repunzle is the female, the second and every thrid chapter after. Then the Televisionary Oracle speaks to the reader personaly. And that is where the fun is. Everything gets its own place, but is tied together in interesting twists and turns. This book is NOT for the weak hearted, it is long and takes getting used to. And, this book is different, feminist from a male view, strange and new-agey without fitting into new age so much. I love this book very much and would list it, quite possibly, in my top five, definately top ten. I think that it is a must-try to read, and hopefully you get through to the strange end. Need a very open mind and a quirky sense of humor.

[Ma'Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was recommended to me by an artist friend who was intrigued by my gender identity, expression, and body. She described The Televisionary Oracle as her "bible" and said she has read it over and over and purchased it for many friends, and that I had to go online and buy it for a few bucks. I did so the next day and am happy to say she was not exaggerating. Although it pretty consistently reinforces oppositional sexism and references "radical feminism" as if it's a good thing, I find myself able to either overlook those things or blame it on Rob Brezsny's ignorance of trans experiences. I could spend most of this review expounding on my critiques about those things, but I really, really loved it and can't wait to re-read it, read it aloud to as many people as possible, and steal directly from it for queer magickal rituals and life mantras.

[Madeofmeat (Andy) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well-written--various POVs, intricate scenes. Sociopolitical gestalts are dated (heavy PC-aware irony). This was lent to me by a neighbor, who drunkenly said, "It changed my life." This is the same guy who responded to my describing a local cat's one-eyedness by saying that he ate the missing eye. A little odd, but in a good way. So's the book.

Ultimately got too weird and uninteresting. Returned to neighbor unfinished.

Update: Discussed it with him a bit more. There are little chapters here and there that address the reader directly. What I should have done is skip the narrative and just read those little bits, as I found those to absolutely be worth my time.

[Charlatan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much period talk for my taste but what a breath of fresh air this book is! It speaks to me, I love how unusual the style is, cannot count the many times it had me trying to catch my breath because of its ravishing complexity. The future is NOW! This is teleporation in a book, I found myself in a schizophrenic world I didn't have the tools to fabricate in my imagination.

Would probably read again

[Grainne Rhuad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immediately Smart and Insane this book takes one on a wild inner journey which makes you ask the question...have I done any good in the world...and also makes you wonder, how does a man know so much about the inner psyche of a woman. A marvelous book. A must read.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I probably should have read this one in my late teens, early 20's....when I was a Tom Robbins fanatic. The jury's still out, but I can't seem to force myself to open the book again. As another reviewer said: "Tom Robbins without the vocabulary."

[Berrynana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why do I feel like this book is never ending? Like another reviewer, maybe I would have liked it when I was a teenager. Maybe.. I have my doubts. As interesting as the story seemed, I just didn't enjoy reading it.

[Sergio Aldana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will take you on a fast moving coaster ride of such heights. Vividly rich, descriptive writing on multiple levels, sexually, spiritually, intellectually, etc.
This is the Super Nova that will kill today's ongoing Apocalypse.

[Rie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling tour de force with rocks shows as performance art and runaway goddesses killing the apocalypse.

[Niki Haworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense and odd, but beautifully written.

[Beth]

I read this YEARS ago and felt like it changed my life.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Rob Brezsney and Pronoia is one of my favorite books of all time.
Lets see if 2nd time is a charm too!

[Dov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rob Brezsny seems to write a poetic narrative of my life, or one I live in dreams.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The creator of "Real Astrology". 1 part spoof, 1 part mysticism, 1 part feminism, dressed up as junk fiction.

[Wolfmother81 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Currently reading very good so far!