Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind: The Authorized Biography

Excerpts & Samples

By Stephen Larsen

Publisher : Inner Traditions/Bear & Company

ABOUT Stephen Larsen

Stephen Larsen
Stephen Larsen, Ph.D, is Psychology Professor Emeritus at SUNY Ulster and the author of The Shaman’s Doorway and The Mythic Imagination and coauthor of Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind. He has been using the LENS clinically since 1996 and biofeedback since 1975 in his psychotherap More...

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Description

The fascinating biography that illuminates the man whose work changed modern culture

• Gives a complete biographical view of Campbell's life and a personal perspective of who he was through the voices of his friends and colleagues

• Written by two of Campbell's preeminent students with exclusive access to his notes and journals

Joseph Campbell forged an approach to the study of myth and legend that made ancient traditions and beliefs immediate, relevant, and universal. His teachings and literary works, including The Masks of God, have shown that beneath the apparent themes of world mythology lie patterns that reveal the ways in which we all may encounter the great mysteries of existence: birth, growth, soul development, and death. Biographers Stephen and Robin Larsen, students and friends of Campbell for more than 20 years, weave a rich tapestry of stories and insights that catalogue both his personal and public triumphs.
"Joseph Campbell was an amazing, abundant, humane man. This book, by incorporating his journals, letters, and a massive offering of his intellectual sources, helps us understand how, in this half-dead world, such a character comes to be."
Robert Bly, poet and mythologist

"A marvelous account of the life of a man who fell in love with stories and became our greatest teller of timeless myths. A feast for the mind, the imagination, and the heart."
Sam Keen, author of Fire in the Belly

"Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind ignites the soul of the reader with immortal longings. To read it is to swim in a river of old with Joseph Campbell, whose capacity for knowledge was as vast as his passion for living. This potent telling of the quest of one who brought life to myth and myth to life is the book of the year."
Jean Houston, author of The Search for the Beloved