Get Free Shipping on orders over $89
Mutants and Mystics : Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal - Jeffrey J. Kripal
eTextbook alternate format product

Instant online reading.
Don't wait for delivery!

Mutants and Mystics

Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal

By: Jeffrey J. Kripal

Hardcover | 1 November 2011 | Edition Number 1

Sorry, we are not able to source the book you are looking for right now.

We did a search for other books with a similar title, however there were no matches. You can try selecting from a similar category, click on the author's name, or use the search box above to find your book.

In many ways, twentieth-century America was the land of superheroes and science fiction. From Superman and Batman to the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, these pop-culture juggernauts, with their "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men," thrilled readers and audiences—and simultaneously embodied a host of our dreams and fears about modern life and the onrushing future.

But that's just scratching the surface, says Jeffrey Kripal. In Mutants and Mystics, Kripal offers a brilliantly insightful account of how comic book heroes have helped their creators and fans alike explore and express a wealth of paranormal experiences ignored by mainstream science. Delving deeply into the work of major figures in the field—from Jack Kirby’s cosmic superhero sagas and Philip K. Dick’s futuristic head-trips to Alan Moore’s sex magic and Whitley Strieber’s communion with visitors—Kripal shows how creators turned to science fiction to convey the reality of the inexplicable and the paranormal they experienced in their lives. Expanded consciousness found its language in the metaphors of sci-fi—incredible powers, unprecedented mutations, time-loops and vast intergalactic intelligences—and the deeper influences of mythology and religion that these in turn drew from; the wildly creative work that followed caught the imaginations of millions. Moving deftly from Cold War science and Fredric Wertham's anticomics crusade to gnostic revelation and alien abduction, Kripal spins out a hidden history of American culture, rich with mythical themes and shot through with an awareness that there are other realities far beyond our everyday understanding.

A bravura performance, beautifully illustrated in full color throughout and brimming over with incredible personal stories, Mutants and Mystics is that rarest of things: a book that is guaranteed to broaden—and maybe even blow—your mind.
Industry Reviews
"Mutants and Mystics chronicles the emergence of a complex and startlingly dangerous energy in our world. Because we don't know what it is, we identify it as paranormal. But perhaps what it should really be called is 'abnormally powerful,' for, as Jeff Kripal reveals with satisfying skill in this book, it has come to define the very essence of the popular imagination. Instead of fairies and sylphs and gorgons, our rationalist world is defied by a folklore of superheroes, supervillains, and dangerous strangers, and, as I know all too well, can be shattered by them in some very real ways. Mutants and Mystics is the first book that shines the light of reason and insight into this swarming forest. As a wanderer here, I found the light that poured from these pages as blessed as it is breathtaking." -Whitley Strieber"

More in History

Looking from the North : Australian history from the top down - Henry Reynolds
The Making of the Middle Ages : An Atlas of Europe - John Haywood
HOW TO KILL A WITCH : A Guide For The Patriarchy - Claire Mitchell

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
Gold Standard? : Remembering the Hawke government - Frank Bongiorno

RRP $39.99

$33.75

16%
OFF
British Gardens - Monty Don

RRP $85.00

$61.99

27%
OFF
Not Just a Bunnings Man : The life and times of Tom (G.M.) Bunning - Joseph Christensen
Men in the Sun : And Other Palestinian Stories - Keira Lykourentzos

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
Battle of the Arctic : The Maritime Epic of World War Two - Hugh Sebag Montefiore
Rebirth : A Love Story From the Depths of War - Antoun Issa

RRP $34.99

$22.99

34%
OFF
The Shortest History of Innovation - Andrew Leigh
We Do Not Part - Han Kang

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
The House of Blue Glass : A life of Penelope Lucas - Alan Atkinson
A World Appears : A Journey Into Consciousness - Michael Pollan

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
Rasputin : And the Downfall of the Romanovs - Antony Beevor

RRP $55.00

$46.99

15%
OFF
Where It All Went Wrong : The case against John Howard - Amy Remeikis
The Town Like No Other : A Story of Broken Hill - Robert McLean

RRP $32.99

$28.75

13%
OFF