Smoke Hole : Looking to the Wild in the Time of the Spyglass

"With potent, lyrical language and a profound knowledge of storytelling, Shaw encourages and illuminates the mythic in our own lives. He is a modern-day bard." – Madeline Miller, author of Circe and The Song of Achilles At a time when we are all confronted by not one, but many crossroads in our modern lives—identity, technology, trust, politics, and a global pandemic—celebrated mythologist and wilderness guide Martin Shaw delivers Smoke Hole : three metaphors to help us understand our world, one that is assailed by the seductive promises of social media and shadowed by a health crisis that has brought loneliness and isolation to an all-time high. Smoke Hole is a passionate call to arms and an invitation to use these stories to face the complexities of contemporary life, from fake news, parenthood, climate crises, addictive technology and more. Shaw urges us to reclaim our imagination and untangle ourselves from modern menace, letting these tales be our guide. More Praise: "I can still remember the first time I heard Martin Shaw tell a story. The tale that emerged was like a living thing, bounding around, throwing itself at us there listening. I had never heard anything like it before." – Paul Kingsnorth, Booker shortlisted author of The Wake "Martin Shaw's work is so very beautiful. A new animal. His love of images is deep and contagious." – Coleman Barks, author of The Essential Rumi "Through feral tales and poetic exegesis, Martin Shaw makes you re-see the world, as a place of adventure, and of initiation, as perfect home, and as perfectly other. What a gift." – David Keenan, author of Xstabeth "Shaw has so much wisdom and knowledge about the old stories, it emanates from his pores." – John Densmore, The Doors ‘A modern-day bard.'Madeline Miller, author of Circe and The Song of Achilles ‘Shaw has so much wisdom and knowledge about the old stories, it emanates from his pores.'John Densmore, The Doors ‘Through feral tales and poetic exegesis, Martin Shaw makes you re-see the world, as a place of adventure and of initiation, as perfect home and as perfectly other. What a gift.'David Keenan, author of Xstabeth ‘I can still remember the first time I heard Martin Shaw tell a story. The tale that emerged was like a living thing, bounding around, throwing itself at us there listening. I had never heard anything like it before.'Paul Kingsnorth, Booker shortlisted author of The Wake Today, as we are confronted by not one, but many crossroads in our lives – identity, technology, love, seduction, politics – celebrated mythologist and wilderness guide Martin Shaw delivers Smoke Hole – three ancient myths that serve as metaphors for our world today. Assailed by the seductive promises of social media and shadowed by a pandemic that brought loneliness to an all-time high, Martin argues that we are losing our sense of direction, our sense of self. He invites us to use these stories to help find ‘a commons for the imagination, a place to breathe deeper, feel steadier and become acquainted with rapture.'Smoke Hole is a passionate call to arms and an invitation to use these stories to face the complexities of contemporary life, from fake news to parenthood, climate crises, addictive technology and more. Available now as a podcast! Subscribe to Smoke Hole Sessions to hear amazing conversations between Martin Shaw and some of our most admired writers, actors, comedians, musicians and more, including Sir Mark Rylance and Tommy Tiernan (Derry Girls). "Through the Smoke Hole, we will find beauty in the wild. Through the Smoke Hole, we will escape the gaze of the Spyglass and find ourselves. Assailed by seductive promises and controlled by social media, we are losing our sense of direction. We are losing ourselves. We have networks, not communities. At a time when we are all confronted by not one, but many crossroads in our lives - identity, technology, trust, love, politics and global pandemic, celebrated mythologist and wilderness guide Martin Shaw delivers Smoke Hole: three metaphors for the modern world - a commons of imagination. Let us journey together, and these stories be your ally - hold them in your pocket, breathe deeper, feel steadier and become acquainted with rapture. Praise for Martin Shaw 'I can still remember the first time I heard Martin Shaw tell a story. The tale that emerged was like a living thing, bounding around, throwing itself at us there listening. I had never heard anything like it before.' - Paul Kingsnorth, Booker shortlisted author of The Wake 'Martin Shaw's work is so very beautiful. A new animal. His love of images is deep and contagious.' - Coleman Barks, author of The Essential Rumi 'Shaw has so much wisdom and knowledge about the old stories, it emanates from his pores.' - John Densmore, The Doors"-- Provided by publisher