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David Guy

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Born

in Pittsburgh, PA, The United States

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http://www.davidguy.org

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April 2009

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I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which in some way still seems like home, though I haven’t lived there for years. I attended Shady Side Academy, graduating in 1966, and enrolled from there in Duke University, where I studied with Reynolds Price and Wallace Fowlie, earning a BA and eventually an MAT. My first job was as an English teacher at Forsyth Country Day School in Winston-Salem. I moved back to Durham in 1976, and have lived here ever since, except for a two-year stay in Cambridge while my wife was in graduate school.

I was eleven years old when I first saw that there was something about language that fascinated me, fifteen when I decided—God help me—that I wanted to be a writer. Though I have worked in libraries and I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which in some way still seems like home, though I haven’t lived there for years. I attended Shady Side Academy, graduating in 1966, and enrolled from there in Duke University, where I studied with Reynolds Price and Wallace Fowlie, earning a BA and eventually an MAT. My first job was as an English teacher at Forsyth Country Day School in Winston-Salem. I moved back to Durham in 1976, and have lived here ever since, except for a two-year stay in Cambridge while my wife was in graduate school.

I was eleven years old when I first saw that there was something about language that fascinated me, fifteen when I decided—God help me—that I wanted to be a writer. Though I have worked in libraries and taught at various schools and in different capacities, writing has been my true vocation. I have sometimes thought of it as the work I do, other times as a pastime, but it has always been the activity I most enjoy. In the decade beginning when I was 32, I published four novels, Football Dreams (1980), The Man Who Loved Dirty Books (1983), Second Brother (1985), and The Autobiography of My Body (1990). I also published articles in various publications during those years, and was active as a book reviewer.

In 1991, when my wife dragged me to a class at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, I discovered the spiritual practice that became central to my life, and grew interested in Buddhism. I think of myself as a “householder yogin” (in the words of Reginald Ray, quoting Chogyam Trungpa) and see “the sitting practice of meditation” as my “primary life commitment.” I have practiced in the Vipassana, Tibetan, and Zen traditions, but don’t consider those distinctions important. Since 1995 I have practiced with Josho Pat Phelan at the Chapel Hill Zen Center, with regular forays back to the Insight Meditation Society.

I worked with my first meditation teacher, Larry Rosenberg, on two books, Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation (1994) and Living in the Light of Death: On the Art of Being Truly Alive (2001). I wrote for various Buddhist publications during those years, and published The Red Thread of Passion: Spirituality and the Paradox of Sex (1999).

In 2001 I began working at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy, teaching in both the MPP and Hart Leadership Programs. I retired in 2014, though I still work part-time for Hart Leadership. Working at Duke freed me to get back to narrative writing, and in 2007 I published Jake Fades: A Novel of Impermanence. I currently live part of the year in Durham and part in Asheville, and spend my time writing, reading, sitting, swimming at various pools, taking long walks, and getting together with friends.
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David Guy’s books

Average rating: 3.7 · 248 ratings · 40 reviews · 7 distinct works • Similar authors

	Jake Fades: A Novel of Impermanence 3.82 avg rating — 126 ratings — published 2007 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Autobiography of my Body 3.41 avg rating — 61 ratings — published 1991 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Red Thread of Passion: Spirituality and the Paradox of Sex 3.69 avg rating — 36 ratings — published 1999 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Football Dreams 3.86 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1980 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Man Who Loved Dirty Books 3.82 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 1983 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Autopilot Profit Formula: The Complete Step By Step System To Automated Income 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Why We Swim

by Bonnie Tsui (Goodreads Author)

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May 24, 2025 01:06PM

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Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas

by Elaine Pagels

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Apr 30, 2025 02:30PM

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That We May Be One: Christian Non-duality

by Thomas Keating

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Mar 24, 2025 08:25AM

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David Guy finished reading The World Exists to Set Us Free: Straight-Up Dharma for Living a Life of Awareness by Larry Rosenberg	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 27, 2025 06:21PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The World Exists to Set Us Free by Larry Rosenberg. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The World Exists to Set Us Free by Larry Rosenberg <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
David Guy is currently reading Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 24, 2025 01:06PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
David Guy rated a book liked it Pudd'nhead Wilson (Bantam Classics) by Mark Twain	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 16, 2025 08:04AM · like
David Guy rated a book liked it Birds of America by Mary McCarthy	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 16, 2025 08:04AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Birds of America by Mary McCarthy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Birds of America by Mary McCarthy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
David Guy rated a book it was amazing Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus by Elaine Pagels	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mark Twain tells a story about a typesetter from the days of hot type, when things were a lot more difficult than they are now. The young man was setting a sermon in type, and after the first appearance of the name Jesus Christ, he figured the reader ...more
May 16, 2025 07:58AM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Miracles and Wonder by Elaine Pagels. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Miracles and Wonder by Elaine Pagels <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
David Guy rated a book really liked it Autobiography of a Zen Monk: Taisen Deshimaru by Taisen Deshimaru	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I’ve always been a fan of Taisen Deshimaru, whom I sometimes think of as the European Shunryu Suzuki, or Seung Sahn (I’m not quite sure who to compare him to, because he was so much his own man). He was the son of a mother who was devout in the Pure ...more
May 16, 2025 07:54AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Autobiography of a Zen Monk by Taisen Deshimaru. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Autobiography of a Zen Monk by Taisen Deshimaru <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
David Guy rated a book it was amazing Zen Mind Jewish Mind: Koan, Midrash, & The Living Word by Rami M. Shapiro	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Rabbi Rami Shapiro is a national treasure. We just don’t know it yet. In a career spanning over thirty years, he has written books on any number of religious topics; if he thinks about it he writes about it, and sometimes the writing comes together i ...more
May 16, 2025 07:51AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Zen Mind Jewish Mind by Rami M. Shapiro. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Zen Mind Jewish Mind by Rami M. Shapiro <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
David Guy rated a book it was amazing The Group by Mary McCarthy	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I said here recently, in my study of outrageous women from several generations, that All Fours is a better novel than anything Mary McCarthy or Erica Jong had written. That may still be true. But at that point I hadn’t read The Group, McCarthy’s most ...more
May 16, 2025 07:48AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Group by Mary McCarthy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Group by Mary McCarthy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
David Guy rated a book it was amazing The Zen Master's Dance: A Guide to Understanding Dogen and Who You Are in the Universe by Jundo Cohen	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I’ve heard the name Jundo Cohen in Zen circles for years, and associated him with his teacher, Gudo Nishijima. Some time ago, I read a book that the two of them co-authored, A Heart to Heart Talk with Zen Master Gudo. Nishijima is a unique teacher, a ...more
May 16, 2025 07:44AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Zen Master's Dance by Jundo Cohen. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Zen Master's Dance by Jundo Cohen <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
David Guy rated a book really liked it The First Bad Man by Miranda July (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I moved on to The First Bad Man because I figured her talent was better suited to the novel form. In a way she takes up a classic story here, about a neurotic uptight woman who has an impossible dream (hooking up with a man who wants nothing to do wi ...more
May 16, 2025 07:41AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The First Bad Man by Miranda July. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The First Bad Man by Miranda July <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">