Looking for Arthur: A Once and Future Travelogue
Looking for Arthur chronicles the training of a contemporary, self-styled and irreverent "Grail Knight" in the inner mysteries of Arthurian legend. Set in Glastonbury, England (site of the legendary Avalon) amidst a hub-bub of King Arthur buffs, occultists, and tourists, the narrator finds a wryly mystical teacher who introduces him to a multiple-bodied being of light named "Blaise." At once numinous, playful, and capable of instructing in visualizations of great beauty, Blaise appears to the...
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Looking for Arthur chronicles the training of a contemporary, self-styled and irreverent "Grail Knight" in the inner mysteries of Arthurian legend. Set in Glastonbury, England (site of the legendary Avalon) amidst a hub-bub of King Arthur buffs, occultists, and tourists, the narrator finds a wryly mystical teacher who introduces him to a multiple-bodied being of light named "Blaise." At once numinous, playful, and capable of instructing in visualizations of great beauty, Blaise appears to the Grail Knight's inner senses and helps him to integrate practice, lore, and doctrine culled from mystery traditions ancient and modern, Eastern and Western. Looking for Arthur is a literary tour-de force, as well as a veritable trove of "occult" practice, lore, and wisdom. Library Journal The Arthurian legend has inspired everything from medieval poetry to a Broadway musical to a Richard Gere movie, so why not "autobiographical fiction"? The only problem is that Leviton's book is a confusing hodgepodge of Christian, Buddhist, and Celtic allusions, with some fairly well-done descriptions of present-day Glastonbury. Leviton has written books about such diverse topics as soyfoods, weddings, and Rudolf Steiner. His latest is neither enjoyable as fiction nor useful as a travel guide. Its 72 chapters feature such titles as "Lunch at the Fairy Dell" and "Joseph Takes the Dog to Church." Dedicated followers of Camelot and New Age philosophy might find Leviton's search for Arthur interesting; other's won't. An optional purchase.-Mary C. Kalfatovic, Telesec Lib. Svc., Washington, D.C.
\ Library JournalThe Arthurian legend has inspired everything from medieval poetry to a Broadway musical to a Richard Gere movie, so why not "autobiographical fiction"? The only problem is that Leviton's book is a confusing hodgepodge of Christian, Buddhist, and Celtic allusions, with some fairly well-done descriptions of present-day Glastonbury. Leviton has written books about such diverse topics as soyfoods, weddings, and Rudolf Steiner. His latest is neither enjoyable as fiction nor useful as a travel guide. Its 72 chapters feature such titles as "Lunch at the Fairy Dell" and "Joseph Takes the Dog to Church." Dedicated followers of Camelot and New Age philosophy might find Leviton's search for Arthur interesting; other's won't. An optional purchase.-Mary C. Kalfatovic, Telesec Lib. Svc., Washington, D.C.\ \ \ \ \ Alice JoyceThis extravagantly fantastic, wordy, and elaborately conceived work is the first volume of autobiographical fiction detailing the writer's magical adventure. Ensconced in the town of Glastonbury (in Somerset, England) on a working holiday, of sorts, the narrator finds himself swept away by the legend of Arthur. Amid a town teeming with devotees, the self-annointed, modern-day Grail Knight delves ever more deeply into the Arthurian myth and mysteries. Days unfold in a distinctly hallucinatory fashion, with Leviton's rich, full prose coming perilously close to excess as he draws on a dizzying array of alchemical, occult, religious, and literary sources. Still, readers fascinated by transcendent states or theosophical questions may well delight in the protagonist's dazzling sojourn.\ \
