Since last I mentioned it here on the blog, my new book - Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Dao: Ancient Chinese Thought in Modern American Life - is starting to take physical shape. Or maybe it is just virtual shape. It is now on Amazon; Wiley-Blackwell, the publisher, has filled out its page. And, most importantly, it has a cover (below).
I am a bit sad that it will not be out until October. The details of production - securing permissions, copy-editing, indexing, etc. - are really rather time-consuming and bothersome. Not nearly as fun as actually writing.
I now need to work up some talks about it. That is the odd thing about book writing. By the time the actual volume comes out, I will be turning to a new project, possibly two new projects. My mind will be elsewhere, but the book will just be coming into the public eye. It makes for a touch of intellectual schizophrenia. But it's all good. I'll be in China this summer, Beijing and Shanghai, and hope to do some talks on it then. Looking forward to feedback and conversations and critqiues.
Is that Lao Zi on the cover? He looks a lot like Zhou Runfa (Chow Yun-fat) playing Confucius to me. Let me know if you'd like to come to the University of Virginia for a book talk.
Posted by: Charles Laughlin | March 17, 2013 at 05:59 PM