Keep getting stranger

Skip to content

Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

47 Comments

  1. Froborr
    June 14, 2015 @ 11:49 am

    He calls for your death, you challenge him to read a book.

    The degree to which Wright is out of his depth in this fight would be sad if it weren't so hilarious.

    Reply

  2. Elizabeth Sandifer
    June 14, 2015 @ 11:51 am

    To be fair, I've already made the ultimate sacrifice and read his book. Hell, I paid money for my copy. Death holds no fear for me.

    Reply

  3. Bob Dillon
    June 14, 2015 @ 12:36 pm

    Some good has come from this! Now it is on amazon I can finally order it (although amusingly a bug crept onto the amazon page which forced it into a perpetual reload, until I rebooted Firefox)

    Bob Dillon

    Reply

  4. The Dapper Anarchist
    June 14, 2015 @ 12:43 pm

    I wonder what Wright thinks of the recent wave of Nihilist thought, Thacker and Gray and the like. His presumption that he is important and that the world gives a flying fuck about him… well, it's comical anyway, given that apparently what is really important according to Wright, but the Nihilists would find his presumption foolish and entertaining anyway, even if he cared about something bigger than niche fiction.

    Reply

  5. duckbunny
    June 14, 2015 @ 12:46 pm

    "I am reasonably confident that, out of seven billion people on this planet, you are literally the only one who, on June 12th, 2015, faulted anybody for not castrating themselves for an Anatolian mother goddess."

    I would wholeheartedly agree, save that on this particular weekend, in a field in Warwickshire, Odyssey LRP was held. The coincidence is too delightful to go unremarked.

    Reply

  6. jane
    June 14, 2015 @ 1:04 pm

    As a worshipper of that Anatolian mother goddess, I guess I got off lucky in not having anything to castrate to Her in the first place. Instead, I'm tasked with writing a book.

    My critique group, on the other hand, has been a bitch.

    Reply

  7. J Mairs
    June 14, 2015 @ 1:26 pm

    I will gladly buy your book – but I refuse to pay Amazon for postage and packaging.

    I demand you lot tell me what else I should buy!

    Reply

  8. Dan
    June 14, 2015 @ 1:37 pm

    Starmaker by Olaf Stapledon.

    Reply

  9. Dan
    June 14, 2015 @ 1:37 pm

    Did something similar for me. How weird.

    Reply

  10. matthewjrparsons.com
    June 14, 2015 @ 1:41 pm

    Suppose this is an appropriate time to stop by and mention that I've been through the bulk of the nodes in my copy of Recursive Occlusion at this point — consider me seduced.

    Reply

  11. Andrew Hickey
    June 14, 2015 @ 1:46 pm

    Yep, very glad it's now orderable, whatever the reason.

    Reply

  12. Elizabeth Sandifer
    June 14, 2015 @ 1:49 pm

    I would guess it is because the listing in Amazon's system is not actually fully rolled out yet. Should stabilize within the day.

    Reply

  13. HarlequiNQB
    June 14, 2015 @ 2:10 pm

    Do you own Phil's other books? I suspect you do, bit if you're missing any, now is the time to catch up 🙂

    Reply

  14. Sean Dillon
    June 14, 2015 @ 3:16 pm

    The Very Soil, Rebel Rebel, An Incomprehensible Condition, From Hell, All Star Superman, William Blake: The Complete Illustrated Books, and Spider-Man: Reign.

    Reply

  15. Elizabeth Sandifer
    June 14, 2015 @ 3:19 pm

    I'm going to recommend against Spider-Man: Reign. The Very Soil, Rebel Rebel, and An Incomprehensible Condition are, of course, all great.

    Reply

  16. ferret
    June 14, 2015 @ 4:35 pm

    I'd love to see a Kindle edition of this, but with the choose-your-own-adventure format I imagine that's a fair bit more work than usual.

    Worked very well for Ryan North's Kindle edition of his choose-your-own-adventure version of Hamlet though!

    Reply

  17. David Ainsworth
    June 14, 2015 @ 5:23 pm

    I wish all advertisements were like this.

    Reply

  18. Jarl
    June 14, 2015 @ 5:30 pm

    You've been ordered to frustrate yourself instead of castrate yourself.

    Reply

  19. Jarl
    June 14, 2015 @ 5:32 pm

    picking a fight with you and your overly vocal god
    Sweet YHWH/Vox Day double-burn.

    Reply

  20. Sean Dillon
    June 14, 2015 @ 6:23 pm

    Do you need any peer reviewers?

    Reply

  21. AndyRobot800
    June 14, 2015 @ 6:35 pm

    I love you, man.

    That's all I got. As an ex-Catholic who still finds beauty in the details, even as I reject the negativity the church has often caused, that was extremely well-stated. And my condolences to your family.

    Reply

  22. kateorman
    June 14, 2015 @ 6:38 pm

    There seems to have been a fair bit of soteriological stuff going on two millennia ago. I'd love to introduce Wright et al to one of my favourite deities of the time, who was guaranteed to come when his worshippers cried out for his help; who, when he commanded demons to jump, they would ask, "How high, sir?"; whose salvific power I have personally, directly experienced. And he didn't even require mindless obedience in return. The only thing that might put them off it that his name is Tutu.

    Reply

  23. Elizabeth Sandifer
    June 14, 2015 @ 8:25 pm

    I'll be collecting it and some other stuff in a volume towards the end of the year that'll come out for Kindle and in print.

    Reply

  24. Justin Cawthorne
    June 14, 2015 @ 11:40 pm

    I have to question Wright's assertion that he 'has joy' (or at least benefits from inclusion in some sort of joy-fuelled cabal). He really does not sound like someone who has much joy in his life …

    Reply

  25. Kit Power
    June 15, 2015 @ 1:26 am

    "You’re continuing to try to have your god and eat it too." I lol'd out loud.

    Reply

  26. Richard Gadsden
    June 15, 2015 @ 3:11 am

    That arrogant self-confidence in one's own salvation is deeply Calvinist in style, though I'm guessing Wright is actually a Thomist.

    But he doesn't have the humility and the sense of the necessity of works that the Saint had.

    Reply

  27. kateorman
    June 15, 2015 @ 3:18 am

    You know those paintings of people in heaven enjoying the sight of the torment of those in hell?

    Reply

  28. phuzz
    June 15, 2015 @ 7:19 am

    I'm constantly amazed quite how wound up people get about things like religion or sports or what have you.
    Is it really that hard to suppress the "oh noes, someone is wrong on the internet" reflex? Or at least to suppress it below the level of wishing people were dead?

    Reply

  29. Spoilers Below
    June 15, 2015 @ 8:57 am

    Let's take a crack at this:

    “According to the Queen Scale, what color is associated with Hod?”
    Gamboge

    “What is the generally accepted best translation of the figure with whom the narrator speaks in the Poimandres?”
    The Plotinian Monad, or The One, or The Good, which is strange because it usually only emanates rather than communicates directly.

    “Who was head of the Ancient Druid Order from 1799-1827?”
    A trick question. From 1777-1803, it was David Hume, via seance. Then from 1804-1832, it was John Keats, also partially via seance, in schism with Samuel Bentham, who ruled the Southern/Naval Order from 1804-1828.

    “What figure connects the 15th century translation of the Hermetica with the education of John Dee?”
    Giovanni Cavalcanti, via Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas Aquinas' pet golem, Emmett.

    Well, how'd I do? How'd I do?

    Reply

    • Aberrant Eyes
      December 12, 2015 @ 10:43 pm

      Well, how’d I do? How’d I do?

      Rereading this post as part of a general survey of all things having to do with angry dogs, I discover that nobody ever answered that question for you, a lacuna I shall now rectify with page references from Da’ath.

      1) I’ll give you partial credit for “gamboge”, since the swatch produced by a Google search is reasonably close to the actual answer, orange (p.84).
      2) “Knowledge of Ra” (p.102).
      3) William Blake (p.108).
      4) Marsilio Ficino, who did the translation (p.103) and under whom Dee studied (p.106).

      Now you know, and knowing, as I’ve been saying since around 1995, is half the Mandatory Educational Content Segment.

      Reply

  30. Spoilers Below
    June 15, 2015 @ 9:11 am

    In no particular order:

    Neoplatonism by Pauliina Remes and Steven Gerrard
    The King in Yellow by Simon Bucher-Jones
    Metamorphosis, by Ovid (trans. Charles Knox)
    Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume
    The Exterminators by Simon Oliver and Tony Moore
    Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin and Mike Fridrich
    The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton-Wilson
    American Jesus volume 1: Chosen by Mark Millar and Peter Gross

    Reply

  31. John Toon
    June 15, 2015 @ 1:01 pm

    “What figure connects the 15th century translation of the Hermetica with the education of John Dee?”

    Not Kevin Bacon, then?

    Reply

  32. Aylwin
    June 15, 2015 @ 1:35 pm

    Ah yes, the missing link between Roger and Francis.

    Reply

  33. Ben
    June 15, 2015 @ 3:03 pm

    I have read your conversion experience, Mr. Wright. You speak movingly of the grandeur of what you saw. Do you truly presume that these mysteries were revealed to you so that you might place yourself above those who have not seen? Was your reaction, upon seeing “the workings of a mind infinitely superior to mine, a mind able to count every atom in the universe, filled with paternal love and jovial good humor,” truly to take this as a sign that you should proclaim your reason, human and fallible as it is, to be a model for others to follow? Do you think that God showed you the splendor of creation to make you proud?

    I could not possibly have said this better. This strain of "we are superior minds and souls because we have true faith" has existed in Christianity for centuries. It has always been the worst part of Christianity.

    Reply

  34. storiteller
    June 15, 2015 @ 3:57 pm

    Do you truly presume that these mysteries were revealed to you so that you might place yourself above those who have not seen? Was your reaction, upon seeing “the workings of a mind infinitely superior to mine, a mind able to count every atom in the universe, filled with paternal love and jovial good humor,” truly to take this as a sign that you should proclaim your reason, human and fallible as it is, to be a model for others to follow? Do you think that God showed you the splendor of creation to make you proud?

    This just reminds me of the bit in Hitchhikers Guide, where upon Zaphod Beeblebrox, upon being shown the Total Perspective Vortex (which made everyone else mad from understanding their smallness in the universe) was simply amazed at how awesome he was. (Yes, the book gave an out, but the original joke is applicable here.) Needless to say, my own Christian conversion experience was not nearly so shiny or awe-inspiring. It was more of a quiet realization of grace, acceptance and healing. It's perhaps not surprising that I have a very, very different theology than Wright and recognize nothing of my own faith in his description.

    Reply

  35. camestrosfelapton
    June 15, 2015 @ 11:55 pm

    "You’re continuing to try to have your god and eat it too."

    Oh well done, well done indeed.

    Reply

  36. Site Owner
    June 16, 2015 @ 1:39 am

    I would just like to point out that while I am very very pleased to see any one recommend it – I must make it absolutely clear, that I of course only retranslated Thomas de Castigne's 'Le Roi en Jaune' – I did not write The King In Yellow, which is a collection of short stories by Robert W. Chambers, and which refers to de Castigne's play. John C. Wright may wish to WARN people against the play which is well known to be OCCULT and CURSED!!!

    Simon Bucher-Jones

    Reply

  37. Andrew Hickey
    June 16, 2015 @ 1:43 am

    I'll second the recommendation for SImon's version of The King In Yellow, which I still haven't reviewed on my site but which is really very good indeed if you have any knowledge of or love for that late-Gothic pre-Lovecraft horror tradition.

    Reply

  38. Daru
    June 16, 2015 @ 4:53 am

    I one had a fairly similar experience when as a storyteller in Scotland, I came across a storyteller who regarded himself as a 'tradition-bearer' and I was researching looking for someone to mentor my practice. This was their response to me:

    "There is far too much neo-paganism being purported in the name of Scottish tradition, especially the type being promulgated by the likes of satanists such as Rudolf Steiner (and his re-incarnational crap) whose mentor Helena Blavatski (from whom came the swastika) indirectly brought about the social darwinism that fueled both World War I & II and the persecutions of God's people i.e Jews and Christians. These neo-pagans are trying to reinvent Scotland in a mould that it never had and are even trying to make storytelling into some kind of religion which never existed here. Real paganism would demand human sacrifice such baal worship which require that the first born child of each adhering family be killed, burned and it bones worshipped; I wonder if the neo-pagans would be willing to do that. I think not!

    Scotland was never founded on any such principles but rather the only nation ever to be founded on the true gospel of salvation and redemption for when the first Scots came from Ireland they brought missioneries with them. I would hope that you would honour my support by shunning any such practices in storytelling and stand with me as a bearer of genuine Celtic virtue. If that is the case then I would be willing to support you in any way that I can."

    They then withdrew their support, and since this character has been merged with others by me to create a very funny performance.

    Reply

  39. arcbeatle
    June 16, 2015 @ 11:13 am

    Cascade, by James Wylder (which is me, but its my best book and I like paying bills :P)
    The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
    I, Jedi by Michael Stackpole

    Reply

  40. Fred Kiesche
    June 18, 2015 @ 11:15 am

    If John C. Wright is a Christian, let alone a Catholic in reality, then I, a Catholic will convert to the worship of fracking jelly donuts.

    Lord save us from self-righteous uptight morons like him.

    Reply

  41. Dan
    June 18, 2015 @ 12:46 pm

    Crikey. So it was all Madame Blavatsky's fault! And the Scots came from Ireland!

    Reply

  42. Daru
    June 19, 2015 @ 4:13 am

    Yes! It was all Blavatsky's fault indeed!

    I thought, crikey, indeed when I received the above. Felt quite similar to Wright's "Sir, a real pagan would kick your ass."

    Gotta give the writer credit above though, the original tribes that formed the Scots did include folk from Ireland.

    Reply

  43. storiteller
    June 19, 2015 @ 4:34 pm

    Also, any one have the courage to see if he actually has commented on the climate change encyclical?

    Reply

  44. brendakshi
    February 18, 2020 @ 4:45 pm

    You can recommend a good movie reviewer. I want to find criticism and reviews of new films on YouTube or Google search.

    Reply

  45. Nga Williams
    February 18, 2020 @ 4:53 pm

    I asked this question several times on the forum. You can go to Wikipedia or a cinema search. I doubt that such a profession exists. I know that such resources https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/social-issues/ help students write creative assignments. They can help you, but I’m not sure. These are professional copywriters who work with different content.

    Reply

  46. Dan Johnson
    April 9, 2020 @ 2:28 pm

    That was the most strange thing I ever read maybe. And I used to read Heidegger and Lacan and they are really impressive in kind of strangeness. This post is full of emotions and I feel like Elizabeth should take one of
    https://vapehabitat.com/ devices and chill a bit before making such a big collapse next time. However, it was pretty eye-opening for me to read this. Every time I go to the internet my mind grows wider and wider…

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from Eruditorum Press

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading