Contours of Nothing: Aphorisms, Maxims and Writings

‘I rest my affairs on nothing,’ Goethe said famously in his poem, ‘Vanitas! Vanitatum Vanitas!’ This book would dare to question, ‘Did he know that even nothing has such definite contours?’

In this sardonic collection of aphorisms, maxims and musings, history is not written by the winners, but ‘by those whom time has robbed of glory,’ while living in the moment ‘turns mere anxiety into sheer terror.’ Here, the realm of politics might as well be an insane asylum without walls. Voting, statistics, stand-up comedy, eastern religion, secularism, conservatism, progressivism, nihilism and even reading are dealt equal blows, while those mundane habits and gestures which we feel connect us all are inspected with enough scrutiny to make them blush.

Nevertheless, there is redemption: ‘If I can't laugh at it, I don't trust it. Humor is the only thing I take seriously.’

Moments of light break through as we’re reminded of the power of inspiration and creativity. ‘The writer spends so much time on that which is only a small, late stage manifestation of what is budding within him. He often ends up saying less than he actually knows, lest he become the one who is written.’

Comprised of selected material published originally at EmergentHermit.com and in The Burning Block zine along with all new material, this book of varied thoughts, observations and apocalyptic dismissals is sure to be a favorite for readers who appreciate more aphoristic, fragmentary gems which are, at once, irreverent and light-hearted.