Nov. 17, 2004

Contact: Terry J. San Filippo
College of Liberal Arts
(805) 756-1216

Cal Poly English Professor To Present Talk, Reading Dec. 3

SAN LUIS OBISPO ¾Cal Poly English Professor John Hampsey will present a talk and reading of his new book, "Paranoia and Contentment, A Personal Essay on Western Thought" in Philips Hall of the Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3.

Howard Zinn, historian and author of "A People's History of the United States," has called "Paranoia and Contentment" an "extraordinarily original rumination on the human condition . Hampsey's goal is to startle us into reconsidering our conventional ways of thinking, and I believe he has achieved that goal admirably . eminently readable, often eloquent."

Tim O'Brien, author of "The Things They Carried" and winner of the National Book Award called the book "a sharply reasoned, humane, surprising and intellectually bold meditation on paranoiac vision. Part scholarship, part personal essay, this beautifully written book turns upside-down our standard thinking about paranoia, creativity, imagination, and what it is to be wholly human."

The publication will be available for sale and a book signing will follow. The event is free and open to the public.

Hampsey lives in San Luis Obispo.

For more information, call Terry J. San Filippo, College of Liberal Arts, College Relations Office at (805) 756-1216.

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