Great Little Book

from Confessions of a Pagan Nun:

"I do not understand a man who does not want to know all that he can know. Why would anyone choose ignorance? If he chooses ignorance because he is lazy, then he is a fool, for the ignorant are put to hard labor digging and hauling stones for masters who tell they need no knowledge. If a man must labor from dawn to dusk to avoid a blow on the head to earn a cup of grain, he has no time to gain knowledge and remains a slave to his masters. I think, therefore, that it is a worthy vocation to free a man enough that he can learn who he is and what he is capable of...Teaching is a sacred art...The teacher the bard, the singer of tales is a freer of a man's minds and bodies...But he is also a danger to the masters if he insists on telling the truth. The truth will inevitably cause tremors in those who cling to power without honoring justice. (pp. 104-5)

I learned regret in the ruins...I regretted that ambition had ruled my heart instead of affection for my kin. And with the lessons of regret came the gratitude for having life still to move my lips and limbs, and to speak kind words to embrace those I might not see again on this sweet-smelling earth. I learned I cannot wait to love what is in my presence, for it or I may be well gone tomorrow. (p. 145)"                    Kate Hornsley, author

I had never heard of this book or author before, but this spring by chance I found myself in one of the best independent bookstores I know, The Tattered Cover, in Denver. Killing time while my wife searched for something, I remembered reading somewhere that Charles de Lint had a column if Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine, so since they have a great magazine section, I found F&SF and his column. He mentioned this book and another by Kate Hornsley as very good reads. So, I was off on a mission looking for her books there. Sadly, no luck. I went to the Gender Studies studies and in the Used section there I found nothing by John Stoltenberg (anyone who looks at men's studies should read his On Becoming a Man), but found Kate Hornsley's fiction there, used at a great price. Must have been fate. they are good!

Find them yourselves and read them. yahoo!

rojo