Overview

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 Aphorist: 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.

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9780983592099

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Reviews

Phil Cousineau, like another Frenchie, Jacques Kerouac, is a literary kangaroo. He bounces to the stars for light to create verbal wisdom constructs; then cunningly shapes them into unforgettable aphorisms. Keep hopping and writing, Phil. In these demagogic days, we need your unique astral meditation. (Willis Barnstone, author of Poets of the Bible and The Poets of Ecstasy) The Accidental Aphorist is medicine for today's verbally diarrheic culture. The author is a shaman of language here to re-mind us of the magic, precision, and power of the words we use to fashion our worlds. Lots of books talk about creativity; this one demonstrates it with grace and charm. It belongs in every writer's rucksack. (Michael Grosso, author of The Man Who Could Fly and Frontiers of the Soul) I have long said that Phil Cousineau takes more notes than anyone I have ever met. Now I know what he was writing down: wisdom sayings he has gleaned from his own telescopic observations of the wide and wondrous world. (Huston Smith, author of Forgotten Truths and And Live Rejoicing) There's a poet and essayist on the scene whom I love, named Phil Cousineau. Witness the blazing sincerity of his Once and Future Myths. Also, his deeply helpful Beyond Forgiveness. Once again in his new book he proves his deftness with words and images. His gift reminds me of my distant relative, T. S. Eliot, as his gift for the axiomatic phrase. Long may Cousineau weave his word magic. (Alexander Eliot, author of Three Hundred Years of American Painting, Sight and Outsight, and Because it was Beautiful) Phil Cousineau's aphorisms will delight, amuse, provoke and astonish, demonstrating how much wit and wisdom can be mined from a lifelong practice of listening and observing. These pages read like a series of literary fortune cookies, made with a dash of Montaigne, Dorothy Parker, James Joyce, and Lao-Tzu. Use this book as an oracle. Or keep it by your bed as for those restless nights when you need to restore your own unbearable lightness of being. (Valerie Andrews, author of The Secret Lives of Ordinary Things) The Accidental Aphorist is another wonderful Phil Cousineau metaphor for the way that we come to wisdom, in short bursts of imagination. I will be quoting from this marvelous collection for years to come. I admire his incredible gift, courage, and commitment to the deep art of writing. (Angeles Arrien, author of The Four-Fold Way and The Nine Muses) A wise saying is not an aphorism until it is lived. Phil Cousineau's remarkable collection comes from just such a lived life and I relished my reading of them. (Robert A. Johnson, author He, She, We, Balancing Heaven and Earth) I resort to the Prince de Ligne's method and withdraw from your brilliant gems, your nimble wit, into solitude where they sparkle in the dark. (James Norwood Pratt, author of The Tea Lover's Treasury) Phil Cousineau, like another Frenchie, Jacques Kerouac, is a literary kangaroo. He bounces to the stars for light to create verbal wisdom constructs; then cunningly shapes them into unforgettable aphorisms. Keep hopping and writing, Phil. In these demagogic days, we need your unique astral meditation. --Willis Barnstone, author of Poets of the Bible and The Poets of Ecstasy The Accidental Aphorist is medicine for today's verbally diarrheic culture. The author is a shaman of language here to re-mind us of the magic, precision, and power of the words we use to fashion our worlds. Lots of books talk about creativity; this one demonstrates it with grace and charm. It belongs in every writer's rucksack. --Michael Grosso, author of The Man Who Could Fly and Frontiers of the Soul I have long said that Phil Cousineau takes more notes than anyone I have ever met. Now I know what he was writing down: wisdom sayings he has gleaned from his own telescopic observations of the wide and wondrous world. --Huston Smith, author of Forgotten Truths and And Live Rejoicing There's a poet and essayist on the scene whom I love, named Phil Cousineau. Witness the blazing sincerity of his Once and Future Myths. Also, his deeply helpful Beyond Forgiveness. Once again in his new book he proves his deftness with words and images. His gift reminds me of my distant relative, T. S. Eliot, as his gift for the axiomatic phrase. Long may Cousineau weave his word magic. --Alexander Eliot, author of Three Hundred Years of American Painting, Sight and Outsight, and Because it was Beautiful Phil Cousineau's aphorisms will delight, amuse, provoke and astonish, demonstrating how much wit and wisdom can be mined from a lifelong practice of listening and observing. These pages read like a series of literary fortune cookies, made with a dash of Montaigne, Dorothy Parker, James Joyce, and Lao-Tzu. Use this book as an oracle. Or keep it by your bed as for those restless nights when you need to restore your own unbearable lightness of being. --Valerie Andrews, author of The Secret Lives of Ordinary Things, and A Passion for this Earth. The Accidental Aphorist is another wonderful Phil Cousineau metaphor for the way that we come to wisdom, in short bursts of imagination. I will be quoting from this marvelous collection for years to come. I admire his incredible gift, courage, and commitment to the deep art of writing. --Angeles Arrien, author of The Four-Fold Way and The Nine Muses A wise saying is not an aphorism until it is lived. Phil Cousineau's remarkable collection comes from just such a lived life and I relished my reading of them. --Robert A. Johnson, author He, She, We, Balancing Heaven and Earth I resort to the Prince de Ligne's method and withdraw from your brilliant gems, your nimble wit, into solitude where they sparkle in the dark. --James Norwood Pratt, award-winning author of The Tea Lover's Treasury and The Wine Bibber's Bible

Phil Cousineau, like another Frenchie, Jacques Kerouac, is a literary kangaroo. He bounces to the stars for light to create verbal wisdom constructs; then cunningly shapes them into unforgettable aphorisms. Keep hopping and writing, Phil. In these demagogic days, we need your unique astral meditation. --Willis Barnstone, author of Poets of the Bible and The Poets of Ecstasy The Accidental Aphorist is medicine for today's verbally diarrheic culture. The author is a shaman of language here to re-mind us of the magic, precision, and power of the words we use to fashion our worlds. Lots of books talk about creativity; this one demonstrates it with grace and charm. It belongs in every writer's rucksack. --Michael Grosso, author of The Man Who Could Fly and Frontiers of the Soul I have long said that Phil Cousineau takes more notes than anyone I have ever met. Now I know what he was writing down: wisdom sayings he has gleaned from his own telescopic observations of the wide and wondrous world. --Huston Smith, author of Forgotten Truths and And Live Rejoicing There's a poet and essayist on the scene whom I love, named Phil Cousineau. Witness the blazing sincerity of his Once and Future Myths. Also, his deeply helpful Beyond Forgiveness. Once again in his new book he proves his deftness with words and images. His gift reminds me of my distant relative, T. S. Eliot, as his gift for the axiomatic phrase. Long may Cousineau weave his word magic. --Alexander Eliot, author of Three Hundred Years of American Painting, Sight and Outsight, and Because it was Beautiful Phil Cousineau's aphorisms will delight, amuse, provoke and astonish, demonstrating how much wit and wisdom can be mined from a lifelong practice of listening and observing. These pages read like a series of literary fortune cookies, made with a dash of Montaigne, Dorothy Parker, James Joyce, and Lao-Tzu. Use this book as an oracle. Or keep it by your bed as for those restless nights when you need to restore your own unbearable lightness of being. --Valerie Andrews, author of The Secret Lives of Ordinary Things, and A Passion for this Earth. The Accidental Aphorist is another wonderful Phil Cousineau metaphor for the way that we come to wisdom, in short bursts of imagination. I will be quoting from this marvelous collection for years to come. I admire his incredible gift, courage, and commitment to the deep art of writing. --Angeles Arrien, author of The Four-Fold Way and The Nine Muses A wise saying is not an aphorism until it is lived. Phil Cousineau's remarkable collection comes from just such a lived life and I relished my reading of them. --Robert A. Johnson, author He, She, We, Balancing Heaven and Earth I resort to the Prince de Ligne's method and withdraw from your brilliant gems, your nimble wit, into solitude where they sparkle in the dark. --James Norwood Pratt, award-winning author of The Tea Lover's Treasury and The Wine Bibber's Bible

Author Information

PHIL COUSiNEAU has been an incorrigible quotologist and connoisseur of aphorisms of all stripes since he read Mark Twain, Jack London, Ray Bradbury, and The Sporting News as a boy. Since then he has published over 40 books, written or co-written more than 20 documentary films and contributed to scores of other books. Currently, he is host and cowriter of Global Spirit, which airs on PBS TV and Link TV, and is a guest host for New Dimensions Radio. He lives with his family on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco, California.

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