The Way We Are

By Allen Wheelis

Book Overview

Allen Wheelis starts from the premise that human beings do not know themselves because deception--including self-deception--is not only a strategy for survival, it is the basis of the social contract whereby man trades his individual freedom for the security of a tribe or state. Are we really motivated by ideals such as freedom, equality, and justice? In fact these are only distractions useful to the state, which demands conscience of us but is itself above all moral constraints, seeking only power. Were we to understand or dwell on our individual mortality, we would not be willing to make the necessary sacrifices or participate in the bloody business of the group. This unsparing map of the human condition is presented in hypnotic prose and illustrated by vivid fictional narratives. Unsparing as it is, the book finds its way to an episode of transcendent love, for this too is part of the way we are.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393062147
• ISBN13: 9780393062144
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.7" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Great book!

The two parts of this book initially seem very detached from each other. At first read, it feels as if the book is loaded with passimism and sense of doom, but the very last few pages hint to what transcends that. Enjoy!

a pleasure

I have read everything that i can find that this honest man writes. He is such a loner but he doesn't know how helpful he is to those of us who need his naked reflections in order to not feel so queer amongst the conventions of normalcy. This is a man's voice for those of us who still need that kind of conversation. I do. This year I read Philip Roths' Everyman, and the Ernest Becker Reader. and the amazing Vivian Gornick. Add to that Allen Wheelis and you have my Mount Rushmore. "It doesn't mean anything!" she says again. But it does! The pain in my heart is the meaning. a. wheelis Earth, Wind, and Fire A man in his old age sailed the globe Four strong things in his breast prevailed Hard rain falling on the pale jade sea Moon and stars glowing in the lonely night Raging sun pouring over desert sand And his blue heart was aching always. (geof.06)