"We cannot abide our vulnerability,
our utter dependence upon a world that can eat us."
--David Abram
I love the title of this book. Domesticated human so often forget that they are animals. I read and hear even domseticated humans who should know better say things such as "our closest relatives are the primates". Humans are primates- and the domesticated human forgets that.
I really enjoyed Abrams' first book Spell of the Sensuous, and would recommend that book over this book. There was more meat and less poetry in the first book, more direction and more focus. That said, this book unsettled me, which is a compliment. I did not disagree with it, though many times I wanted to disagree.
Abrams approach is to question and pull at modern assumptions about seperateness as though he was pulling strands from a blanket. Slowly your certainty loses it's integrity and everything begins to loosen. He makes good points regarding the awareness of all being. He goes too far, which is likely nowhere near far enough. He is ridiculous in the way Picasso or Van Gogh is ridiculous- not because he is wrong, but because he sees so differently.
If you are certain, then you should read this.
Verdict: Recommended Read
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