something about "Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley" by Richard Kaczynski

The first 20 seconds of "Crazy Train" play at major sporting events in stadiums nationwide. That song is a single from Ozzy Osbourne's post-Black Sabbath debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, released in 1980. That seminal album also featured a curious metal masterpiece titled "Mr Crowley". The song was inspired by a book Ozzy read about Aleister Crowley, a controversial figure who can be described as a turn-of-the-century occultist and ceremonial magician from England.

 

Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley by Richard Kaczynski is the complete Crowley biography. (It is not the book that Ozzy read.) Kaczynski is a Crowley fan, and treats this dynamic man seriously. It is to the author's credit that he has written about Crowley without sounding sensational. However, as a reader, I expected to be a little provoked, given Crowley's controversial reputation. Kaczynski's prose fails to tempt the reader into suspending disbelief. The accounts of Crowley's ceremonies and astral projections are unimpressive. This is a shame, as Kaczynski seems like a true believer.

I was surprised to learn that Crowley was an advanced rock and mountain climber, and I enjoyed reading about his early life right through his college graduation. But after that, Crowley quickly morphed into a ne'er-do-well who generated suspicion and conflict through his exclusive club memberships and private rituals, all of which seem engineered to purposefully generate interest. The mystery around Crowley was just smoke and mirrors. Sometimes literally. My lasting impression of Crowley is that he was a petty huckster who took himself too seriously.

Note:
This book is only appropriate if you are into the mythology and magick. This is not a work to be approached with idle curiosity and skepticism.