Look Again Thomas

“His writing is fresh and accessible, and so tender. As soon as I started reading it, I immediately started thinking of friends I’d like to give it to.” —Judith L. Lief, editor of The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma A mad riot of interconnections: art, Buddhism, mandala principle, spiritual pursuits, growing up goth in the 90s, the theories of Marshall McLuhan, and a mongoose—to name but a few. Meditation teacher, filmmaker, writer, and art savant Kevin Townley turns his unique gaze upon 26 artists and magnifies the power and meaning of the five Buddhist wisdom energies through explorations of their work. Rather than trying to “explain” these energies, he reveals them to you in familiar visual language while, of course, pushing the boundaries of what you might have thought you saw at first glance. Townley leads you to, invites you in, and sometimes springs upon you, the perennial wisdom in the worlds of artists from Artemisia to Hilma af Klint to Marilyn Minter. Beautifully written and hilariously disarming, Look, Look, Look, Look, Look Again vibrates with lucid insight into society, history, and establishment, while teaching you a lot about meditation and Buddhism along the way. In exploring the practice, life, and work of these 26 artists (all of whom are women) through the lens of the five wisdom energies, you come away with a deeper understanding of yourself, the world, and the true dharma that transcends culture and religion—and a profound gratitude for anyone really willing to look. “Without a doubt, Townley is the Fran Lebowitz of Buddhist writing.” —John Hodgman, host of the Judge John Hodgman Podcast “Kevin Townley demystifies that daunting link between art and spirituality while leaving room for the divine. By weaving artists' histories with his own, he makes the reader feel comfortable drawing connections between heady concepts and personal experience. Through a unique blend of compassion and curiosity, Kevin Townley has given readers a more intimate, spiritually-minded 'Ways of Seeing.'” —Tavi Gevinson, actor, writer, and founder of Rookie

George Webber has written a successful novel about his family and hometown. When he returns to that town, he is shaken by the force of outrage and hatred that greets him. Family and lifelong friends feel naked and exposed by what they have seen in his books, and their fury drives him from his home. Outcast, George Webber begins a search for his own identity. It takes him to New York and a hectic social whirl; to Paris with an uninhibited group of expatriates; to Berlin, lying cold and sinister under Hitler's shadow.

A portrait of an American novelist examining the forces of his life that were intertwined with his writing and the academic and literary worlds of which he was a part.

The first coming was the Man: The second was Fire to burn Him; The third was water to drown the Fire; The fourth is the Bird of Dawning. Twenty years have passed since the martyrdom of the Boy-piper at York, twenty years in which his legacy, the movement of Kinship, has challenged the tyranny of the Church Militant in Britain's seven island kingdoms. Now his namesake, Tom, bearing the Boy's own pipes and perhaps himself imbued with the spirit of the White Bird, is wandering Europe in company with the girl, Witchet. But disaster overtakes them and Tom, in a fury of vengeance, breaks his vow of Kinship. A terrible path lies before him, one that transcends his own world. As he travels it, Tom must come to understand the true nature of the wild White Bird, of The Bride of Time and her Child, and of the Song the Star Born sang.

When the Duke of Lexington meets the mysterious Baroness von Seidlitz-Hardenberg on a transatlantic liner, he is fascinated. She’s exactly what he’s been searching for—a beautiful woman who interests and entices him. He falls hard and fast—and soon proposes marriage. And then she disappears without a trace… For in reality, the “baroness” is Venetia Easterbrook—a proper young widow who had her own vengeful reasons for instigating an affair with the duke. But the plan has backfired. Venetia has fallen in love with the man she despised—and there’s no telling what might happen when she is finally unmasked…