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Overcoming Peace of Mind: Essays and Errata
A collection of meditations and arguments by central Texas writer Brett Palomar. They concern political consciousness, art, education, foreign policy, environmental issues, living in America, Plato, Pragmatism, and why we haven't heard from the aliens yet. There are also some funny stories and a few pictures.
502 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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June 16, 2011
My mistake when first cracking Brett Palomar's remarkable prose collection was to assume I held what it seems on the surface, a miscellany of short commentaries by a public intellectual-cum-philosopher without portfolio. Collocating essays, blog posts, a few fictions and assorted other short pieces from two decades in and (mostly) out of the ivory tower, Overcoming Peace of Mind ranges across hundreds of individual topics which collectively present a mosaic of turn-of-the-millennium American culture. It is possible to read and relish the book on this level—especially to relish, as Palomar is a wry, perceptive observer—but to do so would be to overlook deeper currents within the work.
A trained philosopher released from the world of his profession by economic happenstance, Palomar is a humane, often wise observer of the milieus he has inhabited. Likely he was such before turning to philosophy; indeed, it was probably these traits that drew him into the field of study. The life he has led to date has been an interesting one, and, more importantly, he has lived it with interest engaged. From this engagement he communicates the essays and errata that comprise this volume: insightful critiques of Washington policy decisions, glosses on music, meditations on martial arts, remembrances of several trips to Burning Man, exchanges with and observations of children, and notes on absurdities discoverable in every aspect of contemporary life.
The book is organized into thirteen sections, each section consisting of a number of thematically or stylistically linked entries. Pieces within any one section may trace to a single period in Palomar's life, or may have come together from moments of origin separated by a years. Subjects discussed might concern matters in the midst of which he found himself at the time he wrote, or he might ponder implications of a memory from childhood. He offers a letter on life to the newborn daughter of friends. He provides a road map into the thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein, and a genuinely entertaining account of the significance of Michel Foucault. He evokes a mud pit at Burning Man with vividness that leaves a feel of grit in one's crotch.
A reader may wonder, given the foregoing description, why I say my mistake with Overcoming Peace of Mind was to try to read it as a miscellany, especially since it is, in fact, structured as such. A more apt characterization might say that my mistake was to approach it merely as a miscellany. The more I read of the book, the more connections across subject and section stood out. For instance, the chronology of Palomar's life, faceted by sectioning into cubistic presentation, coheres into a distinct timeline in retrospect. Also emerging page by page was an awareness that, regardless of how these pieces group in the given sections, each entry falls into one of four grand categories. In fact, somewhere in the middle of the volume I began to think of it as four books interwoven. Citizen Palomar scrutinizes the U.S. body politic and its actions in the world. A clever, often hilarious Palomar returns time and again to Burning Man and the circle of Burners as touchstones for an examination of contemporary society and a meditation on the nature of community. Philosopher Palomar delves into metaphysics, ethics, ontology and the real ways in which they matter, as well as the flaws and foibles of the institutional structures in which twenty-first century discourse keeps such inquiries locked away. Each of these categorical strands is explored with grace, vividness and humor, and each could be teased out to stand as a concise book in its own right. It is, however, the fourth category which most distinguishes the collection, for when Palomar takes love as his subject, his topic, his object of scrutiny, he approaches the sublime.
Why, I find myself asking, would an author as smart and thoughtful as Brett Palomar interleave these disparate concerns into a single large work when a different organization could have produced four viable, focused books without changing a jot or a dot of the contributing material? Four shorter books organized within tighter constraints certainly would have made more marketing sense. The answer to this question may lie in the weave itself. By interspersing apparently unrelated thoughts on politics, society, intellectual currents and love, the resulting gestalt manages to capture not only artifacts of a mind in passage but an entire world. The title itself is a key. Overcoming Peace of Mind, at a glance a smirking word play, is actually the necessary first step onto a road of discovery.
A trained philosopher released from the world of his profession by economic happenstance, Palomar is a humane, often wise observer of the milieus he has inhabited. Likely he was such before turning to philosophy; indeed, it was probably these traits that drew him into the field of study. The life he has led to date has been an interesting one, and, more importantly, he has lived it with interest engaged. From this engagement he communicates the essays and errata that comprise this volume: insightful critiques of Washington policy decisions, glosses on music, meditations on martial arts, remembrances of several trips to Burning Man, exchanges with and observations of children, and notes on absurdities discoverable in every aspect of contemporary life.
The book is organized into thirteen sections, each section consisting of a number of thematically or stylistically linked entries. Pieces within any one section may trace to a single period in Palomar's life, or may have come together from moments of origin separated by a years. Subjects discussed might concern matters in the midst of which he found himself at the time he wrote, or he might ponder implications of a memory from childhood. He offers a letter on life to the newborn daughter of friends. He provides a road map into the thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein, and a genuinely entertaining account of the significance of Michel Foucault. He evokes a mud pit at Burning Man with vividness that leaves a feel of grit in one's crotch.
A reader may wonder, given the foregoing description, why I say my mistake with Overcoming Peace of Mind was to try to read it as a miscellany, especially since it is, in fact, structured as such. A more apt characterization might say that my mistake was to approach it merely as a miscellany. The more I read of the book, the more connections across subject and section stood out. For instance, the chronology of Palomar's life, faceted by sectioning into cubistic presentation, coheres into a distinct timeline in retrospect. Also emerging page by page was an awareness that, regardless of how these pieces group in the given sections, each entry falls into one of four grand categories. In fact, somewhere in the middle of the volume I began to think of it as four books interwoven. Citizen Palomar scrutinizes the U.S. body politic and its actions in the world. A clever, often hilarious Palomar returns time and again to Burning Man and the circle of Burners as touchstones for an examination of contemporary society and a meditation on the nature of community. Philosopher Palomar delves into metaphysics, ethics, ontology and the real ways in which they matter, as well as the flaws and foibles of the institutional structures in which twenty-first century discourse keeps such inquiries locked away. Each of these categorical strands is explored with grace, vividness and humor, and each could be teased out to stand as a concise book in its own right. It is, however, the fourth category which most distinguishes the collection, for when Palomar takes love as his subject, his topic, his object of scrutiny, he approaches the sublime.
Why, I find myself asking, would an author as smart and thoughtful as Brett Palomar interleave these disparate concerns into a single large work when a different organization could have produced four viable, focused books without changing a jot or a dot of the contributing material? Four shorter books organized within tighter constraints certainly would have made more marketing sense. The answer to this question may lie in the weave itself. By interspersing apparently unrelated thoughts on politics, society, intellectual currents and love, the resulting gestalt manages to capture not only artifacts of a mind in passage but an entire world. The title itself is a key. Overcoming Peace of Mind, at a glance a smirking word play, is actually the necessary first step onto a road of discovery.
Displaying 1 of 1 review