The only way out is in: 8 Books for realigning in isolation
The only way out is in is a human recommendation engine aimed at keeping our minds right inside when everything outside seems to be going wrong.
Seriously, though, checking the news has turned into a vicious cycle: read, panic, research, repeat. If you have a tendency to get stuck on phase two of this cycle, like we do, remember it’s ok to put down your phone and step away from the news for a while. Instead of fixating on the rapid-fire headlines, we’re dampening the pandemic panic by reading books that get our gears turning in a different direction. Below is a short list of long reads for the inner explorer.
Christopher’s techno-spiritual awakening
As you can see, I’ve been thinking a lot about the intersection of American counterculture and Eastern spirituality lately. Also, dildos -- specifically internet-connected teledildonics, and what they say about the state of globalization. Shits getting real, but these books have given me something more than a virus to focus on.
The Bhagavad Gita translated by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
Remember when Tom Ford quit fashion to make movies? His Oscar-nominated cinematic interlude was adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man. The outspokenly queer English author (one of my all-time favs) also contributed to a translation of the Bhagavad Gita, complete with an intro by psychedelic godfather, Aldous Huxley. This 700-verse Hindu epic, presented as a conversation between warrior prince Arjuna and Sri Krishna, serves as a roadmap for a life of selfless action and introspection.
Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East by Gita Mehta
Don’t let the title deceive you, this is not a colonialist communications textbook. This vibrant and experimental 1979 satire, written from the perspective of a liberated Hindu woman, takes aim at the commodification of ritual and religion in the psychedelic 1960s and 70s. The cover is pretty dope too.
Virtual Reality by Howard Rheingold
I picked up this book by technological theorist Howard Rheingold while researching the origins of internet-connected sex toys.The chapter on teledildonics alone deals with the use of VR as a substitute for psychedelics, the potential for a worldwide intimacy network, and the promise and pitfalls of global computerization. It’s far out, y’all! And it was written more than 20 years before Oculus was born.
Reena’s women of color audiobook odyssey
Since the Oakland Public Library offers free access to audiobooks via Hoopla, I’ve been on a women of color audiobook kick in 2020. I started 2020 off with The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay, a look into class, privilege and the complications and complexities of the dire situation in Kashmir.
Then came Bad Feminist by academic, activist, and pop culture lover Roxanne Gay, and the anti-capitalist musings in How to Do Nothing by Stanford professor and new media artist Jenny Odell. Since the lockdown, I’ve been listening to Convenience Store Woman (Sayaka Murata), the dark, satirical story of an anti-heroine in Japan who had to grapple with not being “normal” by society’s standards but found solace and structure in the setting of a corporate convenience store.
And finally, the Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal. I’m only 30 minutes in and hooked. A feminist British Punjabi woman dropped out of law school and is trying to find meaning and purpose in her career when she stumbles upon an opportunity to teach widowed Punjabi women how to write subversive erotic fiction.