The Oldest Story In the World

The Oldest Story in the World is a brooding, daring, idiosyncratic exploration of the secret strength of storytelling, in which Phil Cousineau addresses the central theme that runs through all his work, the transportive power of words. Written as a mosaic of meditations, this lyrical book ranges from a twelve-thousand-year-old Aboriginal tale, to a mystical Viking story, a venerable myth from the Seneca, and a modern parable from the world of house painters in San Francisco. Wrapped around the marvels he has collected from around the world are Cousineau's own edgy ruminations, which illuminate the irrepressible impulse for storytelling.

Review :
"The Oldest Story in the World is a brooding, daring, idiosyncratic exploration of the secret strength of storytelling, in which Phil Cousineau addresses the central theme that runs through all his work, the transportive power of words. Written as a mosaic of meditations, this lyrical book ranges from a twelve-thousand-year-old Aboriginal tale, to a mystical Viking story, a venerable myth from the Seneca, and a modern parable from the world of house painters in San Francisco. Wrapped around the marvels he has collected from around the world are Cousineau's own edgy ruminations, which illuminate the irrepressible impulse for storytelling." (Helen Vachet, New Perspectives) "The prolific Phil Cousineau has released another book about the wonderful world of words. This time he notes that when words are put together in just the right way, they conjure up stories that take us on thrilling excursions or reveal to us our innermost feelings or emotions ... Cousineau recalls stories that enchanted him as a child and stories repeated at family gatherings. Soon he was writing his own stories and teaching workshops on the subject. The author is like all of us: hungry to mine meanings out of the stories he hears and tells ... And moving inexorably behind our own quests for meaning is the unfolding of the story of the evolutionary universe. By the end of this lyrical work, you will want to follow Cousineau's habit: 'Every day I try to find the stories that will bring me back to life.'" (Frederic and Mary Brussat, Spirituality & Practice) "Every book by Phil Cousineau is a cause for celebration. The Oldest Story in the World explores what he calls the secret strength of storytelling, and is one of my favorites of all his works." (Alexander Eliot, author of Three Hundred Years of American Painting, and Because It Was Beautiful) "In The Oldest Story in the World, you touch on one of the roots of being human -- and which we're losing -- not because of the Internet, but because of shrinking attention spans. Like all Cousineau's books, The Oldest Story is like a good friend that is healing to have nearby." (Michael Grosso, author of The Man Who Could Fly and Soulmaker: True Stories from the Far Side of the Psyche) "I am excited about The Oldest Story in the World. It is a superb collection of anecdotes, opinions and judgments about the fundamental place of meaning to humans. Reading the book is helping me think about how to interpret the Huichol myth of the first shaman, which is surely one of the world's oldest stories." (Jay Fikes, anthropologist, author Carlos Casteneda: Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties, and Unknown Huichol: Shamans, Immortals, Allies Against Chaos) "Phil Cousineau has a nose for what can touch the soul, warming it or tickling it. I turn to them with pleasure and appetite, such as The Oldest Story in the World, which is a marvelous study in the art of storytelling, and your marvelous books of photographs and poems. Lucky me." (Joanna Macy, activist, author of Greening of the Self and A Year with Rilke) "The Oldest Story in the World rocked my world. It moved me in myriad ways, me being a kindred wordsmith and lover/teller of stories. This book is a beautiful contribution to the world!" (Stuart Balcomb, TheScreamOnline)