Full name: In My Own Way: An Autobiography

Author: Alan Watts Year: 1972 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Biographies, Philosophy, Non Fiction, Religion, Memoirs, Psychology Purchase/reserch links: Goodreads LibraryThing Amazon ISBNs: 9781577315841 1577315847

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. Similar books: Persons and Places by George Santayana Father Joe by Tony Hendra Called Out of Darkness by Anne Rice Dancing in the Light by Shirley MacLaine Now and Then by Frederick Buechner Freedom in Exile by Dalai Lama XIV Zen Effects by Monica Furlong My Life So Far by Jane Fonda Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor Saltwater Buddha by Jaimal Yogis My Life as Me by Barry Humphries The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong Out on a Limb by Shirley MacLaine The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts This Is It by Alan Watts The Life of Mahatma Gandhi by Louis Fischer I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali Henry David Thoreau by Laura Dassow Walls Gandhi the Man by Eknath Easwaran The Life of Thomas More by Peter Ackroyd