Must Not Sleep
Please welcome Michael Brownstein to the site with his new book, Must Not Sleep:
By turns hilarious and chilling, poet and novelist Michael Brownstein’s latest novel MUST NOT SLEEP is a shamanic initiation into personal freedom — political, emotional, and sexual — which uncovers the secrets behind the destructive policies of those in positions of power. It’s the story of Isaac, seemingly just a time-server in the system (he works “at a mid-level position for a mid-sized company in midtown Manhattan”) whose programming is wiped clean as the result of a series of “big dreams” during which he loses all fear of death.
Filled with light, feeling invincible, Isaac encounters a woman similarly determined to erase her past who eagerly takes a new name for herself: Georgia. Together they enter a shamanic realm where limitations of time and space no longer apply and where the real forces behind the trashing of the planet soon reveal themselves.
MUST NOT SLEEP answers these questions: Who or what is encouraging environmental meltdown and a state of perpetual war? Why does the current American administration engage in actions seeming to sabotage our future? When Isaac realizes that something more than human greed must explain what’s going on, another order of reality opens up. The demonic possession of our leading political figures shows itself in ways he and Georgia are barely able to withstand. But all is not lost: learning to use their innate powers, they are able to heal both themselves and the darkest figure of the present moment, “the man with the frozen heart.”
Michael Brownstein’s website (www.healingdick.com) contains related work including the new CD “Healing Dick.”
“The first roll of the shaman’s drum in fiction, this incendiary novel asks why wer’e pursuing policies on a global scale almost certain to result in our destruction. Who or what is responsible for this situation? Read MUST NOT SLEEP and find out.” — John Perkins, author of CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN
December 13th, 2007 at 9:52 am
After a brief survey of the author’s website I surmise that Mr. Brownstein does not actually view his book as fiction…..
December 15th, 2007 at 8:58 am
Dear Barry,
No, this book IS fiction…it’s a novel. Listen to it and you’ll see.
Michael
December 21st, 2007 at 10:51 pm
This one just wasn’t for me. I listened to the first three or four chapters and the book wasn’t making any sense. The audio quality was poor andd the plot just didn’t seemed to flow anywhere useful or interesting.
December 24th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
A man named Isaac takes us through a wild ride into other-worldly dimensions of very present world complexities. Vibrantly and lustfully written, this book is astonishing, funny and satisfying. Brownstein is a very talented writer.
Nadiya, New York
December 25th, 2007 at 1:09 am
I only listened to the first chapter. I feel compelled to say that it was one of the most trite pieces of newage useless bullshit that I’ve heard since I started listening to podcast novels. And that’s saying something. I won’t be sticking around to see if it gets better, but I can’t really imagine how it could. Thanks for trying. Maybe you’ll find someone out there who’s dumb enough to listen to any of that and think it’s decent or thought-provoking.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
I too listened to the first episode, up to the fifth episode now, and have to disagree with you ‘J’. Is Must Not Sleep for everyone? Probably not, but it is also far from “trite” and “bullshit”. Either you get it and like it or you don’t and that is fine too. I for one think it is imaginative, thought provoking and yes…a bit out there. But that is also what makes it so captivating. It may not fit the traditional model that one may be accustomed too, but I think judging must not sleep after the first episode is a bit pretentious to say the least.
January 3rd, 2008 at 1:35 am
This book was wikkid, rare to see someone who gets the outer realms and still has the ability to articulate it.. was a light in a holiday season decorated in darkness, let me revisit so many aspects of the path that had began to fade into the background.. i love to see somebody bring something tangable back from the trip… good show
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:10 pm
What a kick in the head this novel was!
I just finished listening to this. Thanks, Michael for this surreal, disturbing, quirky, hilarious and inspiring tale! Quite a wild and enjoyable ride.
As for the audio quality, I thought it was pretty good. I was able to listen while driving with the window down and could still make out the narration just fine.
For anyone who enjoyed this novel, I highly recommend Brownstein’s book-length poem, World On Fire. Another kick to the head to say the least.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Jesus Christ and the bloody BIBLE!
No way I am going to waist my time on another stupid tale spun over that ridicules old piece of political crap (yes I am still referring to the so called bible) and soup of old pageant hokus pokus that the Jews picked up from the Egyptians, the Babylonians and the Assyrians among others.
NO WAY.
Keep trying though, practice makes perfect (or at least very close to perfect :-), and keep that old Jesus and Abraham bullshit out of it, we’ve had just about the nose full of that crap…
POS
August 14th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Holy crap! Did Michael Moore write this twisted piece of crap under the name Brownstein? Someone has a very warped mind. I did listen to the entire book. Total and utter CRAP!
Yes this book is a P.O.S
October 19th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Wow, have you ever read on of those books that takes you down several dizzying paths at once, leaving you confused and disoriented? Then ties it all together in the last chapter so that everything makes sense? Well, this is NOT one of those books. It feels like the story ended long before it should have.
I did listen to the entire thing, so I feel that I am qualified in saying that I felt it was a whole lot of new age, mystical, republican bashing nonsense. Whatever your political views, to thinly veil the current administration behind poorly structured fictional characters that are under alien control, is evidence that you don’t have the creative ability to come up with your own original plot line. You borrowed almost every chapter from the news and added the “E.T” factor as your premise. Many of the things written about seemed to be thrown in for “Jerry Springer” style shock value, and had little, if any relevance to the book’s focus. Of course, the book had no focus, so I guess that we can’t fault you too much for the distractions…