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WELCOME TO THE READER

A Reader is obviously a book, but it is a distinctive kind of book. Most books, be they novels or works that convey information, flow smoothly from beginning to end. Not so with most Readers; they can seem disjointed in the sequence of their chapters. In this particular Reader, however, there is a sequence as one section leads into the next, and the whole of it, I hope, not only coheres, but becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

Readers have a rationale, a reason for being published, and the rationale for this book was straightforward. I wanted to bring together essays and selections from books that I wrote at different times and that were published in a variety of places.

I wanted to do this because the reading public has changed. The first generation of readers has passed on, but the “worldview” that the essays present should continue to be of interest to everyone who has a reflective bent. Some chapters are likely to jolt readers, springing on them things they have not thought of before. We might think of this volume as a data bank of reminders that bring to conscious awareness what for the most part is simply taken for granted.

In any case, here it is. If the reader enjoys and learns from it, I will be very pleased.

Huston SmithMarch 2011Berkeley, California

The Huston Smith Reader

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