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Customer Reviews (1)

Lost in Space
I admire Walker Percy greatly.He was a talented writer who could make the most absurd characters and situations seem real, and who could effortlessly capture the peculiarities of life.However, "Lost in the Cosmos - The Last Self-Help Book" is a huge departure from Walker's fiction.Granted, while his style is evident throughout and the writing evinces his same intellectual musings on the world and religion, it is not a book that actually offers much help.At times oddly funny, "Lost in the Cosmos" winds up as a strange mish-mash of fiction and science.

"Lost in the Cosmos" begins with a "Preliminary Short Quiz", which the author claims if you can answer all of the questions, then you are not lost and need not read the book.Percy arranges the questions by painting a unique scenario and offering different thought experiments from which the reader should choose an answer.As one cannot possibly answer all of the questions, one must take the twenty question quiz, otherwise known as reading the rest of the book.This same format follows throughout, but is fleshed out into shomething like a short story in the last two chapters.Percy does a commendable job in raising questions about how humans perceive themselves in this world and what they think their place might be.Sometimes he does this using humor, but oftentimes there is probably too much scientific data and terminology that is likely to put off some readers.

As this was published in 1984, many of Percy's references, especially to movies and popular culture, are dated.Unlike the majority of self-help books, Percy does not offer trite explanations, mantras, or answers for life's biggest questions.The best part of this book is that the author allows readers to ponder out answers to these questions for themselves, which some people may not find helpful.The problem is that in the end, not much is memorable about "Lost in the Cosmos"; it is as if the author himself got lost along the way and became more interested in the possible sci-fi like "what ifs" than what can be known for sure. ... Read more

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Born and raised in Greenville, Mississippi, within the shelter of old traditions, aristocratic in the best sense, William Alexander Percy in his lifetime (1885–1942) was brought face to face with the convulsions of a changing world. Lanterns on the Levee is his memorial to the South of his youth and young manhood.In describing life in the Mississippi Delta, Percy bridges the interval between the semifeudal South of the 1800s and the anxious South of the early 1940s. The rare qualities of this classic memoir lie not in what Will Percy did in his life—although his life was exciting and varied—but rather in the intimate, honest, and soul-probing record of how he brought himself to contemplate unflinchingly a new and unstable era. The 1973 introduction by Walker Percy—Will's nephew and adopted son—recalls the strong character and easy grace of "the most extraordinary man I have ever known."AUTHOR BIO: William Alexander Percy was the author of four books of poetry, and he practiced law in Greenville until his death, one year after the publication of his autobiography. Awarded the Croix de Guerre with gold star for his service in World War I, he also was one of the leaders in the succesful 1922 fight against the Ku Klux Klan in Greenville and headed the local Red Cross unit during the disastrous Mississippi River flooding of 1927. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Mississippi history around 1900-1940
This well-written life was interesting to me for what it had to say about the position ofsome liberal aristocratic Southern whites in relation to the cotton economy in the first half of the 20th century, and in their struggles to keep down the Ku Klux Klan and retain black field labor when blacks were naturally heading north.It also tells an important part of the story of the terrible Mississippi flood of 1927, that put huge parts of the Mississippi delta under water, forcing whites and blacks onto the levees to save themselves and their livestock from drowning.After the flood, at least around Percy's home town of Greenville, the blacks were then conscripted (i.e., put back in slavery) to force them to fight the flood and then, the plan was, to make sure they didn't flee north and would return to cotton work instead.It's a pretty sickening story and one that reminds Americans that racial slavery essentially continued in this country far into the 20th century.Think about the fact that the Mississippi of 1964 was only about 35 years removed from the events of 1927 and you have some idea of what the civil rights movement of the 1960s was still up against in at least one state.

Offers a very good understanding of the times
I was disappointed that Percy's nephew felt the need to apologize for his uncle's comments about black people.
Of course Percy wouldn't be considered politically correct today, and he was certainly a racist in the context that he saw blacks as inferior, but that's the beauty of the book; it gives an unvarnished look into the way upper class white Delta people saw the world that surrounded them.
I have just finished writing a book about a 1940s sheriff in South Texas and found Lanterns on the Levee invaluable in helping me understand the Jim Crow era.

Warmth, Elitism, and Wit
There have been several excellent reviews of this book. I agree with most of them.This book is worth reading even if only as an exercise in literary appreciation.There was once a time, Camelot I suppose, when people actually did think and speak with poise, elegance and most impressively, wit.I value the works of D. K. Chesterton for the same reasons.Percy certainly fits that mold.

I, like Nolan Bond (see his review), am also descended from those red-neck hill people that Percy puts firmly on the bottom of the social ladder.I am old enough to know that they possessed many of the same values and qualities he did though without the aristocratic poise.My Dad, Grand-father and Great Grand father would have been tolerated by his family but never quite accepted as equals.However, what Percy does is so solidly evoke the admirable qualities of a life which is intent upon transcending the vulgar, that even his elitism is charming.His remembrances of his father are so vivid and so superior to the statement of his own life, that I can admire his dad even where I just chuckle at Percy himself.

But you have to let that go.It is the wit that makes the book worth buying.The capacity to use the language as it ought to be used, understated when most deadly, evocative when most descriptive, charming throughout, which makes one yearn to have one more real conversation before death and boredom actually prevail.

Percy is without illusion about himself.He is fearless in his appreciation of those qualities transmitted to himself as well as in his own failure to rise to the nobility they require.He never matches his dad, in his own eyes or otherwise.But along the way, he reminds us that poverty is not impediment to quality, and that true freedom begins with an internal conviction.Percy does not hesitate to consider that some men are superior to others - in that he was free of certain bonds which enslave us.He was thereby able to transcend all cultures and be at home, and appreciative, in them all.

It is a life worth living, even if it wasn't always comfortable.

Over hyped
I've heard great things about this book, but it simply doesn't live up to the reviews.It isn't vivid, isn't absorbing, isn't all that interesting.It is a decent piece of period biography, and if you're interested in the Percy family or the region or time period, it might be worthwhile.Otherwise, give this one a pass.

Not Impressed
This is my first book about planters and plantation life.It was my expectation that the author would give more specific information about plantation finances and management.This subject is hardly touched upon.He does briefly give his opinions about slavery, but there is nothing unique about it.Basically, this is a nice, slow look back at a bygone time, but it left me wondering how the heck did these people come about, and maintain or eventually lose their wealth. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from The Mississippi Quarterly, published by Mississippi State University on December 22, 1997. The length of the article is 1755 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A Thief of Peirce: The Letters of Kenneth Lane Ketner and Walker Percy. (book reviews)
Author: Victor A Kramer
Publication: The Mississippi Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: December 22, 1997
Publisher: Mississippi State University
Volume: v51Issue: n1Page: p149(5)

Article Type: Book Review

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This digital document is an article from The Mississippi Quarterly, published by Thomson Gale on December 22, 2004. The length of the article is 1006 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Walker Percy's Search for Community.(Book review)
Author: Douglas Mitchell
Publication: The Mississippi Quarterly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 58Page: 413(3)

Article Type: Book review

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This digital document is an article from Church History, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1200 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: Peculiar Crossroads: Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, and Catholic Vision in Postwar Southern Fiction.(Book Review)
Author: Bertram Wyatt-Brown
Publication: Church History (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 74Issue: 3Page: 658(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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This digital document is an article from The Mississippi Quarterly, published by Thomson Gale on December 22, 2004. The length of the article is 5310 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: A visit with Walker Percy: an interview and a recollection (1).(Interview)
Author: Thomas A. Underwood
Publication: The Mississippi Quarterly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 58Page: 141(19)

Article Type: Interview

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This digital document is an article from The Mississippi Quarterly, published by Mississippi State University on June 22, 2000. The length of the article is 3814 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Walker Percy's Voices.(Review) (book review)
Author: Gary M. Ciuba
Publication: The Mississippi Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2000
Publisher: Mississippi State University
Volume: 53Issue: 3Page: 443

Article Type: Book Review

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Product Description
Chapters: Oswald Avery, Benjamin Spock, Jenny Thompson, Walker Percy, Radovan Karadžić, Tom Frieden, Stephen Barrett, John Franklin Gray, William Stewart Halsted, Joseph Cheesman Thompson, Armand Hammer, Story Musgrave, Charles R. Drew, George Frederick Shrady, Jacob M. Appel, Robin Cook, Stuart C. Sealfon, Robert Coles, John E. Sarno, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Simon J. Hall, Dickinson W. Richards, Hugo Moser, Walter Sutton, Evan Flatow, Jørgine Boomer, Don Kurth, Virginia Apgar, John Harland Bryant, Harold E. Varmus, Mary Ellen Wohl, William Close, Richard B. Dominick, Charles Snead Houston, John Lattimer, A. Bernard Ackerman, Louis Lasagna, Baruch Samuel Blumberg, Michael Egnor, Arthur Purdy Stout, Harry Ostrer, Lokanatha, Robert Abbe, Oswaldo Frota-Pessoa, Frederick F. Russell, Allan Rosenfield, Luther Emmett Holt, T. Berry Brazelton, Robert Tuttle Morris, David Mcdowell, Matt Iseman, P. Roy Vagelos, Jesse William Lazear, Bernardo J. Gastélum, Paul Stelzer, Abdul Zahir, Gordon Zubrod, Norton Strange Townshend, Ernie Vandeweghe, Jerome Groopman, Harold Alexander Abramson, Todd Wider, Theodric Romeyn Beck, Gabriel Cousens, Allen Whipple, Daphne Simeon, Stephen Rerych, Elizabeth Wright Hubbard, William Samuel Booze, Edward D. Freis, John Markowitz, Philip Phillips, Alexander Duane, Cornelius Rea Agnew, Francis A. Thomas, Judith Palfrey, J. Nozipo Maraire, Robert Glick, Truman Abbe, Stanley Palombo. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 342. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Radovan Karadi (Serbian: , pronounced ; born June 19, 1945)) is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is currently on trial in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo. He is...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=18603629 ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Christianity and Literature, published by Thomson Gale on September 22, 2007. The length of the article is 3591 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Desire, Violence, & Divinity in Modern Southern Fiction: Katherine Anne Porter, Flannery O'Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Walker Percy.(Book review)
Author: John F. Desmond
Publication: Christianity and Literature (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 57Issue: 1Page: 154(8)

Article Type: Book review

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