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Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) famously compared mythology to a kangaroo pouch for the human mind and spirit: "a womb with a view." In Myths to Live By, he examines all of the ways in which myth supports and guides us, giving our lives meaning. Love and war, science and religion, East and West, inner space and outer space-Campbell shows how the myths we live by can reconcile all of these pairs of opposites and bring a sense of the whole.
Campbell wrote Myths to Live By in 1972, drawing on a series of talks delivered at the Cooper Union Forum between 1961 and 1970. In the tradition of The Power of Myth and Pathways to Bliss, Myths to Live By remains one of Joseph Campbell's most enduring, popular, and accessible works.
In this ebook edition, the first new edition since the book's initial publication, Myths To Live By has been newly illustrated and annotated, and is considerably enhanced through opportunities provided by the electronic format. Editor David Kudler has been able to include 80 illustrations, including some photographs actually taken by Campbell, that would be cost-prohibitive in a print edition; there is also a discussion link at the end of each chapter). Myths to Live By has long served as an easily accessible introduction to the wide scope and range of Joseph Campbell's work.
Robert Walter, Campbell's long-time editor and president of the JCF, said,"Campbell wrote hypertextually, connecting thought to thought and image to image. This new new edition of a classic title proves what we've always thought: that this was a medium ideally suited to Campbell's work."
This edition is currently available exclusive to donors at the Joseph Campbell Foundation website. The ebook can be downloaded as either an ePub or a MobiPocket (.mobi) file. In months to come, the JCF will make Myths to Live By available through commercial ebook retailers, including Apple's iBookstore® and Amazon's Kindle Store®.
Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) was an American author, teacher and mythologist. His thoughts on comparative mythology, first brought to public attention by such works as The Hero with a Thousand Faces and The Masks of God, were thrust into prominence by The Power of Myth, his television interviews with Bill Moyers, which aired just after Campbell's death in 1987. His work is carried on by the Joseph Campbell Foundation.
The Joseph Campbell Foundation (jcf.org) was founded in 1991 to preserve, protect and perpetuate the work of Joseph Campbell, to further his pioneering work in mythology and comparative religion, and to help individuals enrich their lives.
The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell is one of the Joseph Campbell Foundation's prime initiatives. The JCF has sought to bring out authoritative editions of Campbell's work in print, in audio and in video. Print titles have included posthumous works such as Pathways to Bliss, Myths of Light, Thou Art That and the Asian Journals, as well as new editions of existing titles, such as Campbell's classic, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In audio, the JCF has gathered and released the Collected Lectures of Joseph Campbell Series, while in video, it has worked with partners to produce The Hero's Journey, Sukhavati, and the soon-to-be-completed Mythos series, introduced by Academy Award® winning actress Susan Sarandon.
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