In Numena: The Absurdity of Certainty ex-theoretical quantum physicist turned reclusive philosopher, Dr. F. David Peat, elucidates how key innovations in science, art, and technology led to our sense of control over the world around us. In his medieval hilltop village in Tuscany [population of 190], David makes a plea for Gentle Action. Numena features the life and ideas of ex-theoretical quantum physicist turned reclusive philosopher – think Einstein meets Woody Allen. An Inspiring, Surreal, Cerebral Documentary! Director Jena Axelrod descries it as “A logical case for our synchronous world.” Watch this space!

A new controversial experiment, conducted by the University of Toronto, first proposed by Prof. Basil Hiley of London University, revives physicist David Bohm’s radical interpretation of quantum mechanics. The ESSW experiment proved his theory by observing the “surreal trajectories” of particles, and discovering that they follow the quantum potential predicted 40 years earlier by Bohm.

Read the article in the New Scientist

A work that straddles subject boundaries is an unattractive prospect for publishers, finds Martin Parker professor of organisation and culture at the University of Leicester.

 What happens if you have written a book that tries to blur  categories, and you want to get it published? A book, for example that entangles literature, history and management in order to suggest that the ways in which we think about these matters are far too hygienic.

Martin Parker writes, ‘In Daniel Defoe and the Bank of England: The Dark Arts of Projectors (published earlier this year by Zero Books), Valerie Hamilton and I tried to do just that. It’s a story about the beginnings of the Bank of England and the origins of the novel, as well as an account of pirates, imperialism and the sort of “suspension of disbelief” that allows us to believe that organisations are real things. But it was hellishly hard to get published.’

Read ho the co-authors sent the  proposal to around 60 publishers and the responses they got. 

Https://Www.Timeshighereducation.Com/Comment/How-Do-You-Get-An-Interdisciplinary-Book-Published

When Carl Sagan was asked which music he thought should be sent in the Voyager I space probe to regions where it might reach extraterrestrial intelligence he responded: ‘I would vote for Bach, all of Bach, streamed out into space over and over again. We would be bragging, of course, but it is surely excusable to put on the best possible face at the beginning of such an acquaintance. Any species capable of producing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach cannot be all bad.’

A friend and neighbor of the Pari Center is Hans-Eberhard Dentler, a renowned cellist who was one of Pierre Fournier’s most outstanding pupils. Maestro Dentler has performed internationally and was several times invited to the Vatican to play the Bach cello suites for Pope Benedict XVI. When he accepted the invitation to become a member of the World Academy of Art and Science the ceremony took place in Pari followed by a concert of Bach’s music.

Federigo Tozzi (1883-1920)
The works of Federigo Tozzi, whose family came from Pari, are now considered classics of Italian modernism. His novels, poetry and essays caught the attention of Pirandello who subsequently supported him, and his work has been praised by such luminaries as Alberto Moravia who said that Tozzi ‘describes great tragedies with simple words’ and Italo Calvino who called him ‘one of the great writers of Italian descent.’

A few doors from the Pari Center, along Via Cappucci, a plaque marks the Tozzi family home. Federigo is recorded as saying that while he was born ‘by chance’ in Siena his true home was in Pari, and his father insisted that he should spend each summer in Pari as he was growing up. And so his novels are pervaded by the sights, sounds and smells of Pari and the surrounding countryside. Tozzi died in Rome in 1920 during the influenza pandemic.

The village of Pari is slowly becoming a community of the Arts. First there was the Pari Center with its strong commitment to artists—we’ve had visiting writers, painters, photographers, musicians, composers—staying in the village working on projects or simply taking much needed time out before embarking on new work.

Then Ferdinando Lucchesi, a local painter, retired from teaching and formed a cultural association, Le Belle Arti. He fixed up a cantina (a large room at street level below the living quarters that is used to store oil, wine, produce, firewood, etc.) and, as you can see from the photographs, he’s done a beautiful job. Since its opening last summer he’s had exhibits of paintings, jazz and classical music concerts with performances from young musicians from the conservatory in Florence, poetry and literature readings. At the moment he’s hosting an exhibition of African art and artifacts (we had African drumming at the opening).

Next was Otto Alexander Jahrreiss, a German filmmaker who bought a house in Pari a couple of years ago. He too opened a cantina and put on his first exhibit to coincide with Pari’s sagra a few weeks ago. His main interest is in contemporary art and art installations and photography. He has also produced an enormous collage from the hundreds of black and white photographs that he took at the 2012 sagra.

We also have Paolo Chionio living in Pari, a painter and writer who has published with us Il Dizionario Volume I of an ‘alternative’ Italian dictionary based on his life of sogni, pensiri, fantasie e ricordi (dreams, thoughts, fantasies and memories). If you read Italian then it’s a very original and amusing view of the world. Part II is now ready for publication. Paolo opens up the entrance hall to his house every Christmas so that people can drop in and see his crèche or Nativity scene. He has dozens of figures that he places in a different background and setting each year. We’ll post a photo at Christmas time.

Within walking distance of Pari is the house of filmmakers Paul and Bernadette Howard who own Imagine Films based in Dublin. Their intention is to spend more time here now that their children are grown up and to become active in the community. They have a number of ideas as to how Pari, which is situated in a particularly depressed area of Italy, can be developed without being spoiled. One of Paul’s ideas is to bring his post-production work to Pari and train any of the young people who might be interested in this type of employment. Wouldn’t that be great!

We should also mention Andrea Barbieri, a graphic artist and animator, who of course is called on every time the village needs a notice or a poster and always very generously provides his skills.

If you are browsing this website then we’re pretty sure that, like us, you’re a booklover. Although we don’t publish fiction we do read a lot of it, and are aware that numerous Top 100 Book Lists have been compiled to guide us through our reading. Now, at Book Riot, Greg Zimmerman has compiled his 10 Best Top 100 Book Lists

For those of you who don’t read a lot of fiction you’ll probably find Numbers 6 and 4 the most interesting. Check out Zimmerman’s article.

• 10. TIME’s List of the 100 Best Novels
• 9.  Book Riot’s Greatest Novels 1893-1993
• 8.  The Guardian’s Top 100 Bestselling Books of All Time (in the UK)
• 7.  The Entertainment Weekly 100 Greatest Novels Ever
• 6.  The 100 Most Influential Books of All Time
• 5.  The 100 Favorite Novels of Librarians
• 4.  100 Major Works of Modern Creative Nonfiction
• 3.  The Modern Library Best 100 Novels of the 20th Century
• 2.  Goodreads Top 100 Literary Novels of All Time
• 1.  Top 100 Works in World Literature

Some factual information I’ve picked up recently  from publishers’ newsletters, etc.

1.       British Bookshops have closed.

2.       Borders US are in a lot of trouble.

3.       Borders UK closed  in 2009.

4.       Waterstones are closing 20 branches.

5.       Up to 800 libraries (one-fifth of the total) in the UK are under threat.

BUT

6.       There has been an ‘unprecedented surge’ in sales of electronic readers over the Christmas period – an estimated 3-5 million in the US.

7.       Barnes and Noble had sold one million e-books by Christmas Day.

8.       USA Today’s list of Best-Selling Books shows that e-book versions of the top six books outsold the print versions over Christmas and New Year.

9.       Amazon announced that it sold more e-books for its Kindle device than it sold paperbacks in the last three months of 2010.

10.   The judges for the UK Man Booker award will be able to read this year’s entries in both paper and electronic forms.

“We’re here in Hoxton because we love stories. And we know others do too, so we aim to help young people write their own stories..” from the new official Ministry of Stories site.

Nick Hornby has set up a shop in Hoxton High Street called “The Hoxton Street Monster Supplies” and it sells everything that any monster will need. This idea is based on a shop in San Franciso that sold everything that a pirate would need. As you went through the shop you would find young people writing stories, taking part in workshops and receiving mentoring from adult writers. There are now shops in Los Angles, Brooklyn and other parts of the UK. This original project was set up by Dave Eggers and he gave his blessing to Nick Hornby to do the same in the UK.

Good luck from all of the team at Pari Publishing, a fantastic project.

Pari Publishing has finally taken the plunge, with much resistance at the beginning, to move into the 21st Century and the digital age. I am an avid reader and love books, printed books. I love the feel and the smell and that is what I want to take to bed with me at night. Holding an electronic device and scrolling down the screen is not how I want to read my novel. But I have since learned that there are some distinct benefits to eBooks.

Technology is moving in the direction of everything being digital. People are using more and more their portable media devices for researching information and allowing them to have information with them at all times. Ipods, Iphone, Ipad, laptop, cell phone, Kindle or PDA. eBooks are the perfect addition to reading library.

You can now take hundreds of books in your pocket. You can have access to all the reference books you need when you are on your next trip. What’s more, buying them is fast and easy and everything today is about speed. eBooks are now accepted worldwide. They are becoming more and more popular and there is more and more selection.
I think this is one of the reasons that it took so long for people to accept the idea. There just wasn’t much choice and also nobody could figure out all of the different readers. If I invest in one type of reader will I be able to read any eBook or will I bite limited to certain books. It is not likely and I as a book lover hope that eBooks will never replace print books but it is a smart alternative in certain situations.

Buying English language books in Italy can be costly when it comes to shipping and there can be long waits for your book to arrive. Here are some of the people who are perfect candidates for eBooks!

eBooks are perfect for:

• People living abroad—this affects me, very important point. Shipping costs are so high and we can wait so long for our books to arrive. Also the English language sections of bookstores abroad have limited selection and the books are expensive.

• People who travel a lot (or little) who need to carry books with them can now fit all the books they want in their pocket (this will cut down on fees for overweight luggage or the kids having to trail in the back of the car with no leg room).

• Those night owls who need to read at night or who wake in the middle of the night and need to read to go back to sleep—one can read from their portable reader without turning on the light and disturbing their partner.

• Researchers and students who need immediate access to information, they can buy and download an eBook instantly without waiting for shipping. And their book is right there on the screen making research far easier.

Why an eBook instead of a print edition?

• Price—an eBook is much cheaper than the print edition, especially if it is a reference book that you only need to use occasionally, or a book that you are only interested in reading once, the perfect solution.

• They are quicker to obtain. If you need to research information in a specific book you can download an eBook instantly and access all the information you need. This is perfect for students, researchers… Or maybe you just can’t wait to read a novel that has been recommended to you!!!

• Environmentally friendly—eBooks don’t require trees to be cut down and the pollution from pulp mills.

• eBooks are light and portable.

• eBooks are instantly available worldwide . Once a book is released it is available to purchase worldwide, and you don’t have to wait for the release in your country. This also means that an author’s book is available to a much wider audience.

• Links: eBooks have hot links to information on websites. While reading you can just click and go instantly to a website to access more information. Also eBooks can often have extras and bonuses that printed editions don’t offer.

• eBooks can be updated easily, therefore the authors and publishers can update the book as new information becomes available.

• And really no one knows what the future holds, as technology gets better, certainly eBooks will get more and more interesting—graphically, special features and so on.

Therefore Pari Publishing, I feel, has made a wise choice for our customers. Seeing that most of our titles can be used as reference books, our books are ideal candidates as eBooks.