I wasn't sure where to pop this post so I went with my, well I know Pineal Glands are on the unmentionable list here, so I'll go with gut. Anyways, I was trying to find out some more info on Camden Benares and, man, even wikipedia doesn't have an entry.... Anyone know? Alive? Dead? Where is he now? Does he have a homepage? Should I get the Mathematical symbol for the second law of thermodynamics as a tattoo or the word Chutzpah in Yiddish instead? At what age should a young man begin dating? Is it ok that I don't get the whole "bob" thing? Some of it is cool but some is way over my head...
Who the fuck is Camden Benares, and why should I care?
Camden Benares wrote Zen Without Zen Masters, one of the classics of Discordian Literature... This, the Illuminati Trilogy and Principia Discordia are the "must read, biatch" of our silly little world. Also, you should read the occasional Penthouse Letters. ALL are true stories.
obvious fraud. if it was a classic of discordian literature, i would have read it by now.
Quote from: Apikoros II on March 21, 2008, 01:02:47 PM
Camden Benares wrote Zen Without Zen Masters, one of the classics of Discordian Literature...
[citation needed]
Never heard of him, but good luck anyways.
Camden wrote some pieces for the Principia too. He's mentioned a bit in Kerry Thornley's biography (great read, if you haven't read it yet). But I do not know what his current living / dead status is.
He is probably hanging out with Schrodinger's cat.
Camden also wrote the classic story of the student seeking enlightenment and ending up as a shithead...
Hey, that means Camden was the original barstool slinger!!!
Anyway, the RevDrJon was trying to contact Camden a couple months ago to get permission to print some of his stuff in Jon's new book. If anyone has a lead on him, that's who I'd check with. You can probably reach him through IM here, his LJ or maybe at 23AE.
Thornley dedicated his book Zenarchy (http://www.mindcontrolforums.com/hambone/zenarchy.html) to Camden. Google Books also turns up some of his stuff, but I havent found much else, least of all contact information.
Unless you think he bought a restaurant, in which case he can be found at 12A Berkeley Sq. House London, W1, Ph. No. 020 76298886
http://www.benaresrestaurant.com/
Thanks for the insights, all. I know that Camden Benares is his discordian name. Maybe he went back to his other name...
www.newfalcon.com
:roflcake:
(though the site is currently fucked. if it ever starts working again, then camden benares' book is availble from here.)
Hi, I'm Camden Benares.
Quote from: vexati0n on March 21, 2008, 01:03:49 PM
obvious fraud. if it was a classic of discordian literature, i would have read it by now.
I just read it yesterday, it was alright. Some parts had me LOLing, some parts had me going "Fuck yeah!" and some parts were really, you know.
Crap?
I can read it on Google Books, it would seem.
However, I have to read Walter Lacqeur's The New Terrorism, Arms and Mass Destruction first. Can you download stuff from Google books?
I don't know if I'd go so far as to say crap, but I would say far more relevant in the time and place they were written than they are now.
I'd say that the good stuff far outweighs the irrelevant/annoying stuff, though.
Quote from: Apikoros II on March 21, 2008, 12:47:13 PM
I wasn't sure where to pop this post so I went with my, well I know Pineal Glands are on the unmentionable list here, so I'll go with gut. Anyways, I was trying to find out some more info on Camden Benares and, man, even wikipedia doesn't have an entry.... Anyone know? Alive? Dead? Where is he now? Does he have a homepage? Should I get the Mathematical symbol for the second law of thermodynamics as a tattoo or the word Chutzpah in Yiddish instead? At what age should a young man begin dating? Is it ok that I don't get the whole "bob" thing? Some of it is cool but some is way over my head...
Ho ho ho!
He's real name was John Overton, but he changed it to his discordian name: Camden Benares.
His photos:
(http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/9213/camdenbenares0001.jpg)
(http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/1267/camdenbenares.jpg)
He died in 2000. List of his books:
Zen Without Zen Masters
Handful of Zen
Common Sense Tarot: The Complete Gudie to Tarot Reading
It's All in Your Head: Remarkable Facts About the Human Mind (with Jean Stine)
Crying Clown Celebration: The First Book of Phillip (with John F. Carr, unpublished)
Eastern Passage (with John F. Carr, unpublished)
Surface Disturbance (with John F. Carr, unpublished)
Our Lady Marilyn (with John F. Carr, unpublished)
Rainbow Run (with John F. Carr, unpublished)
All that I know. I've just read Zen Without Zen Masters (Polish edition).
I've read Zen Without Zen Masters and Common Sense Tarot (Johnny Brainwash lent them to me).
ZWZM is only half about zen. The other half is sexual philosophy/politics influenced by the Kerista Commune (Brother Judd's sect). Common Sense Tarot was the best tarot book I've ever read. He was pretty influential in how the original Discordian society manifested.
That said, if you read ZWZM, you should start with the knowledge that only about half the book is influenced by Zen practices (although it greatly clarified a few things for me), but it's all mixed into the sexial philosophy/politics stuff..
Something exciting I just found; Rainbow Run was actually published last year, and it seems like similar plans are in action for others.
http://www.amazon.com/Rainbow-Run-ebook/dp/B00AJ1W6N4
http://carcinomangel.wordpress.com/tag/camden-benares/
This person has beef with Camden Benares.