Page 6 RAIN December 1980 -GOOD THINGS Reading should be an adventure, not just a commute to some desired location. Whether you are reading for la11ghter or learning, depart on your journey without an itinerary, let the story unfold to you, and you can unfold with" it. The books described below willcarpet your p~th with knowledge, laughter, tears, and intrigue. -Cathy Macdonald The Next Who.le _Earth Catalog, edited by Stewart Brand, $12.50 from: Random House 201 East 50th Street New York, NY 10022 What do you get when you cross the yellow pages, the New York Review of Books, a novel, and years of the kind of accessing the CoEvolution Quarterly has been noted for? You guessed it: The Next Whole Earth Catalog. It's time to give The Last Whole Earth Catalog a rest and seek out new adventures in the 607 pages and 325 subjects of The • Next. It's like taking a subway: you can catch a ride in composting, stop off in vernacular architecture, and eventually pull in to candlemaking-and there's always another train ready to depart. My first stops were in the sections on maps, plants, and RAIN (can't help a few biases), and I found all to be full of good sources and helpful descriptions. Just think: if you read one subject a day, you wouldn't run out for nearly a year, and if you reaa a page a day, you'd be set for two. But chances are you'll read it over and over until there is a One After The Next Whole Earth Catalog. Still Life With Woodpecker, by Tom Rob- 'bins, 1980, paper, $6.95 from: Bantam Books 666 Fifth Avenue New York, NY10019 What can you learn from a redheaded princess, a beakless woodpecker, a pack of Camel cigarettes, and a Remington SL3? More than you'd expect when they are all accomplices in Tom Robbins' latest adventure, Still Life With Woodpecker. Don't look for the-current statistics on woodstoves or commentary on the effects of big business on our government and economy. You won't find them. What you will find is more important. Robbins' books, in case they haven't yet hit your nightstand, express the philosophy of a romantic individualist. In Still Life, he contrasts this approach to life with that of social activism, and the differences are literally and figuratively explosive. Look out Ralph Nader! Robbins also places high value on ere- ,,. ativity and it's obvious in his prose. In an interview I once read, he said something to the effect of, "I like to write sentences like cherry tomatoes: when you pu_t them in your mouth, you never know which way they'll squirt." Believe me, each of his books is a hothouse of ideas. Northwest readers will.find his descriptions of our rainy country to be especially endearing. So read this one for pleasure, but don't be surprised if it stirs up some questions in your mind about life, love and "the problem with redheads." Emir's Education in the Proper Use of Magical Powers, by Jane Roberts, 1979, $7.95 from: Delacorte Press/Eleanor Friede 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza New York, NY 10017 If this were the '80s answer to Dick and Jane and See Spot Run, I'd feel less nervous about the year 2000. How many times have you heard grown-ups say, "shush, reme:rnber there are children in the room," when something touchy is being discussed, or, better yet, "never mind, you'll find out about it • From Emir's Education when you grow up." The world might be a healthier and happier place if some of these taboo subjects were kept in the open. Jane Roberts, author of Seth Speaks and many other books aimed at helping grown-ups with the questions of life and death, has now devoted ~his book to giving kids a head start on the same subjects. Emir learns abou.t lies, truth, conscience, inspiration, seasons, and death. He travels to the land of.the gods, leaves his body, talks to alligators, and learns that the simplest solutions to problems are always the ones that work with nature rather than against it. The images and illustrations are wonderful enough to keep any child, no matter what age, entranced. ! Cathy is a consulting ecologist with the Nature Conservancy in Portland. Longtime RAIN readers may remember her from her previous incarnation as a Rainmaker (1977). We are happy to welcome her back as a co_ntributor.
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