Putnam, Spring/Summer 2012 - Bookseller Services - Penguin ...

SWEDENBORG
An Introduction to His Life and Ideas
garY laChman
A clear and concise overview of the life
and work of the immensely infl uential but
little understood eighteenth-century
mystic-scientist Emanuel Swedenborg.
“Lachman identifi es all the roles Swedenborg inhabited
(spiritual thinker, psychic, scientist, inventor,
statesman, traveler, and possibly even spy) and does
an exceptionally good job of suggesting why this littleknown
polymath deserves more substantial critical
attention.” —The Independent on Sunday (UK)
It is diffi cult to imagine modern Western alternative spirituality
without the infl uence of Swedish scientist and mystic
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). Every movement in alternative
spirituality—from mental healing and Spiritualism
to New Age mysticism and the twelve-step recovery movement—owes
an immeasurable debt to the ideas he exploded
upon the Western world.
Yet Swedenborg’s work can be challenging for modern readers.
His infl uence, everywhere at once, is diffi cult to get a
handle on. Now, Gary Lachman provides an accessible, lively,
and masterful introduction to the life and ideas of this spiritual
giant. Lachman takes us to Swedenborg’s roots as a brilliant
rationalist and scientist who, well into midlife, began to
experience visions of other realms. From this point, Swedenborg
produced an extraordinary body of writings based on his
out-of-body experiences, in which he related encounters with
angels, other-planetary beings, and “the world of spirits.”
As Lachman explores, Swedenborg’s work opened up a radically
liberal and refreshing idea of religion. He saw humanity,
and all of nature, as phenomena emerging from the “spiritual
world,” and man as a vessel for divine infl uences. This vision
inspired Western seekers to see man as a product of spiritual
phenomena, and thus a being intimately connected with the
cosmos. From this perspective grew bold new ideas about
channeling, spiritual healing, mystical experience, mediumship—a
litany of concepts that prefi gured the revolutions in
alternative and therapeutic spirituality.
April
Trade Paper
ISBN 978-1-58542-938-7
$16.95/$18.00 CAN
Mysticism/Biography
5 ½" x 8 ¼"
272 pages
u national publicity campaign
u radio interviews
u national print and online advertising
u mailing to new age retailers
u outreach to swedenborgian centers
u Promotion at the international new
age Trade show (in June)
u www.garylachman.co.uk
Export rights: E
First Serial, Audio: Jeremy P. Tarcher
Other: Stephen McNeilly
The Swedenborg Society
20/21 Bloomsbury way
London wC1A 2TH
united Kingdom
Previous titles:
Jung the Mystic
iSBN 978-1-58542-792-5 (hardcover)
Rudolf Steiner
iSBN 978-1-58542-543-3 (paperback)
Gary laChMaN is one of today’s most widely read and respected writers
on esoteric and occult themes. His books include Jung the Mystic; Rudolf Steiner; Politics and the
Occult; Turn Off Your Mind; and A Secret History of Consciousness. In his musical career, Lachman
has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a founding member of Blondie. He
was born in New Jersey and currently lives in London.
73
APRIL
TarCher/Penguin