I just found out one of my favorite authors of all time Robert Anton Wilson passed away today.
Robert Anton Wilson Defies Medical Experts and leaves his body @4:50 AM on binary date 01/11.
All Hail Eris!
On behalf of his children and those who cared for him, deepest love and gratitude for the tremendous support and lovingness bestowed upon us.
(that’s it from Bob’s bedside at his fnord by the sea)
RAW Memorial February 07
date to be announced
Wilson has been in poor health for years, and I’m really surprised he made it as far as he did.
If you have never read the Illuminatus! Trilogy, then put down the four colored pages and pick up this book (don’t forget to pay by cash unless you want to be tracked). It totally blew my mind the first time I read it, and it continues to wig me out each time I pick it up. If you want to expand your mind even further, read his other Illuminati related books (Masks of the Illuminati is another fave) or check out his mind altering titles.
Coincidentally I was just thinking of picking up the 800 page book and reading it again for a 10th time.
I know, it’s not comic related, but it’s my site, so there.
via Robert Anton Wilson Blog (link)
2 Comments
Wow Stephen, I had no idea you were a fan.
I love Wilson and was greatly saddened when I read of his death this morning. I always get something new out of Illuminatus! with every reading and I try to read it at least once a year. I re-read Shrodinger’s Cat last year and it was if I were reading it for the first time. I haven’t read Masks of the Illuminati in years.
My wife got me the Historical Illuminatus Chronicles Vol I, II and III (I have yet to read these) for Christmas this year and as soon as I finish my current read of Cerebus, I’ll be jumping into that.
He will be greatly missed, and I can’t tell you what an impact he had on my view of the world and how I think, and I have no doubt that as I continue to read and re-read his work he will continue to break my brain. Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia! FNORD.
I didn’t get to read Illuminatus! until after I was out of college. I was in Atlanta at the time and when I picked it up, I was hooked from page one. Since it was my first read, I started seeing 23 and other symbols everywhere.
A few days into the book (when I became really paranoid), DC shipped Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight – Conspiracy Part 1, and that sent me over the edge, moving RAW to the top of my must read list. I think I finished the book in under a week, then jumped over to Masks, which had a great detective theme going for it, plus, how can you not like Einstein and Joyce in the same book.
I picked up Shrodinger’s Cat, and have only read it once, and two years ago, I picked up Cosmic Trigger.
For the longest time, Illuminatus! was the book I would take on flights when I flew back and forth from LA to Atlanta and from Hays to Vegas. I could get through about half the book in the time it took to fly one way, then read the second half on the way back.
I’m probably going to pick up Illuminatus! again in a few days and read it again for the first time.