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In My Own Way: An Autobiography
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 294.3927092
EAN: 9781577315841
Edition: 2nd
ISBN: 1577315847
Label: New World Library
Manufacturer: New World Library
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: May 02, 2007
Publisher: New World Library
Studio: New World Library
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Editorial Review:
In this new edition of his acclaimed autobiography — long out of print and rare until now — Alan Watts tracks his spiritual and philosophical evolution from a child of religious conservatives in rural England to a freewheeling spiritual teacher who challenged Westerners to defy convention and think for themselves. From early in this intellectual life, Watts shows himself to be a philosophical renegade and wide-ranging autodidact who came to Buddhism through the teachings of Christmas Humphreys and D. T. Suzuki. Told in a nonlinear style, In My Own Way wonderfully combines Watts’ own brand of unconventional philosophy and often hilarious accounts of gurus, celebrities, psychedelic drug experiences, and wry observations of Western culture. A charming foreword written by Watts’ father sets the tone of this warm, funny, and beautifully written story of a compelling figure who encouraged readers to “follow your own weird” — something he always did himself, as his remarkable account of his life shows.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Surprising reading
Alan Watts' autobiography is an engaging read, and surprisingly easy going if you expected leaden profundity. He is also very funny, largely because he is quite unable to take himself too seriously.
Rating: - quite a guy.
I saw Alan Watts speak at Oklahoma University. Dressed in a suit, he began by saying that he usually war robes but said that "I'd been told I was going somewhere called 'Norman' in 'Oklahoma.'" He'd given a speech the night before and the head of the philosophy department had presented him with a list of 13 logical objections to his speech. He thought that was pretty funny and didn't even bother to reply. I recall thinking how humiliated I would be if I'd been that guy.
Watts ... Read More
Rating: - Highly entertaining and a nice compliment to his other work
If you have any interest in Alan Watt's writing, you will enjoy reading his autobiography. He is a great storyteller and this book contains some of this most funny stories. I found myself laughing out loud in many sections.
One of the most memorable stories for me was his recounting of a game he used to play called, "you are the target." In this game, you shoot an arrow up in the air and measure how close it lands to you. This was done in the context of adolescent competition and Watts ... Read More
Rating: - Superb autobiography
This is the finest autobiography I have read. Watts was a master of prose and many of the paragraphs in this work are memorable for their lyrical beauty. He was a very complex human being and does a frank job of highlighting his imperfections. Whatever missteps he took, though, he had a tremendous amount of wisdom to share.
An added bonus to this book is that it gives the reader a vicarious introduction to many of the intellectual luminaries of the 20th century, many of whom were close ... Read More
Rating:  - a courageous and original mind
Though I was skeptical when handed this book - I am neither into religion nor do I desire to have a hip-zen lifestyle in Southern California - I was immediately drawn in to the way this amazing man's life unfolded. Early on, he set out to be an independent intellectual, constantly learning and living in his "own way." He succeeded, in spite of the odds, on the terms that he set out for himself. This was deeply inspiring to me, and it turned out that despite the surface differences of interest, Alan Watts ... Read More
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