It may seem odd for a brewery to post a reading list. Isn’t beer only supposed to be about de-gassing after a long day ruined by a job you fundamentally hate? Or for dipping into those always hot landing-lights of Dionysian debauchery and mind erasure?
Well, here at IBW, we’re not just a brewery, we’re a Cult. A wildly disorganized, middle-out organization of quotidian alcoholics lost in a never-ending search for greater meanings in lesser things. Things like beer.
Beer has always been about rebellion, about stealing that fire from heaven and taking agency of how your mind operates. And, In the modern world, nothing is quite as rebellious as reading. There is no insurrection like taking time from your break-neck digital life to just drift, aimless, through your aging monkey skull.
So, here’s a short list of 19 books our lovable cult of Fruit Slaves are reading, or re-reading, in this foul year of our lord, two-thousand and nineteen. Why not pour yourself a beer and join us?
Aegypt by John Crowley An American Academy of Arts & Letters award winning tetralogy, the first book, The Solitudes, centers on Pierce Moffett, an unorthodox historian who discovers the historical novels of local writer Fellowes Kraft. Kraft's books interweave stories of Italian heretic Giordano Bruno, young Will Shakespeare, and Elizabethan occultist John Dee. These stories begin to mingle with the narrative of Moffett’s real and dream life in 1970s America.
Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation by Stephen Harrod Buhner This is the first comprehensive book ever written on the sacred aspects of indigenous, historical psychotropic and herbal healing beers of the world.
The Odyssey by Homer & Emily Wilson Composed at the dawn of world literature almost three millennia ago, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. This is the first English translation by a woman.
When You Die You Will Not Be Scared To Die by Lindsay Tunkel A series of short poems and meditations on death and everything that is lost - or gained - as you drift into the Great Inevitable.
The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick and Pamela Jackson In the Exegesis, Dick documents his eight-year attempt to fathom what he called “2-3-74,” a postmodern visionary experience of the entire universe “transformed into information.” Based on thousands of pages of typed and handwritten notes, journal entries, letters, and story sketches, this is the magnificent and imaginative final work of an author who dedicated his life to questioning the nature of reality and perception, the malleability of space and time, and the relationship between the human and the divine.
The Hexadic System by Ben Chasny Introducing a new approach to playing and composing music. It doesn’t require the use of a computer or an internet hookup; all that the interested player will need is a guitar, a copy of The Hexadic System book and a regular deck of playing cards.
Thus Spoke the Plant by Monica Gagliano An accessible and compelling story of a scientist's discovery of plant communication and how it influenced her research and changed her life.
Ancient Brews by Patrick E. McGovern Interweaving archaeology and science, McGovern leads us on his adventures to China, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, Scandinavia, Honduras, Peru, and Mexico. We share in his laboratory discoveries, including an early Neolithic “cocktail” from China made of wild grapes, hawthorn fruit, rice, and honey; an elite New World cacao beverage that gods and kings delighted in; and the Midas Touch of central Turkey.
Darwin’s Pharmacy by Richard M. Doyle To explore the rhetoric and significance of evolution, Doyle takes his readers on an epic journey through the writings of William Burroughs and Kary Mullis, the work of ethnobotanists and anthropologists, as well as many others towards a place of some surprising conclusions.
The Age of Crypto Currency: How Bitcoin and the Blockchain Are Challenging the Global Economic Order by Paul Vigna & Michael J Casey Vigna and Casey demystify cryptocurrency―its origins, its function, and what you need to know to navigate a cyber-economy. The digital currency world will look very different from the paper currency world; The Age of Cryptocurrency will teach you how to be ready.
Eight Lectures on Yoga by Aleister Crowley The first series of lectures is entitled 'Yoga for Yahoos.' The elements of Yoga are introduced, examined and demystified with a view to extracting the practical essence of Yoga doctrine. The second series is entitled 'Yoga for Yellowbellies.' Here Crowley weaves Yoga into a conceptual framework the encompasses Western philosophy, magick and mathematical physics. All of these lectures are approached with humor, wit and a minimum of jargon.
Graham Bond: The Mighty Shadow by Harry Shapiro This tells the life story of the almost forgotten British virtuoso jazz/R'n'B/rock musician. Without Graham Bond there would have been no Cream, no Colosseum and no jazz rock. His recorded legacy can only hint at the excitement, innovation and forward thinking nature of his music.
The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses by Paul Koudounaris Koudounaris photographed more than seventy sites for this book. He analyzes the role of these remarkable memorials within the cultures that created them, as well as the mythology and folklore that developed around them, and skillfully traces a remarkable human endeavor.
The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age by James Dale Davidson, William Rees-Mogg Two renowned investment advisors and authors of the bestseller The Great Reckoning bring to light both currents of disaster and the potential for prosperity and renewal in the face of radical changes in human history. The Sovereign Individual details strategies necessary for adapting financially to the next phase of Western civilization.
The Revised Boy Scout Manual: An Electronic Revolution by William S. Burroughs In this work, Burroughs’ parody becomes a set of rationales and instructions for destabilizing the state and overthrowing an oppressive and corrupt government. As with much of Burroughs’ work, it is hard to say if it is serious or satire. The work is funny, horrifying, and eerily prescient, especially concerning the use of language and social media to undermine institutions.
The Miracle Club: How Thoughts Become Reality by Mitch Horowitz Following in the footsteps of a little-known group of esoteric seekers from the late-nineteenth century who called themselves “the Miracle Club,” Mitch Horowitz shows that the spiritual “wish fulfillment” practices known as the Law of Attraction, Positive Thinking, “the Secret,” and the Science of Getting Rich actually work. Weaving these ideas together into a concise, clear formula, with real-life examples of success, he reveals how your thoughts can impact reality and make things happen.
Strange Frequencies: The Extraordinary Story of the Technological Quest for the Supernatural by Peter Bebergal A journey through the attempts artists, scientists, and tinkerers have made to imagine and communicate with the otherworldly using various technologies, from cameras to radiowaves.
Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect by West Mick The Earth is flat, the World Trade Center collapse was a controlled demolition, planes are spraying poison to control the weather, and actors faked the Sandy Hook massacre…. All these claims are bunk: falsehoods, mistakes, and in some cases, outright lies. But many people passionately believe one or more of these conspiracy theories. They consume countless books and videos, join like-minded online communities, try to convert those around them, and even, on occasion, alienate their own friends and family. Why is this, and how can you help people, especially those closest to you, break free from the downward spiral of conspiracy thinking?
Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson Bob described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with different perspectives recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth". His goal being "to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything."
Here’s to a great 2019!!!
