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My reading of the book was frustrated by trying to catch snippets of it while watching my kids‘ basketball practices. Each time | lost my place ! would back up a few paragraphs and discover several concepts |‘d missed. Robert Bly is a poet, and his weaving of mythic and poetic images ~éequires the reader to "‘gear down‘‘ to absorb all the ideas. | m sure Iron John is a book that I‘ll return to All of which is interesting gossip if you‘re a bookseller, but what‘s so great about the book? One basic premise the reader must accept is that our culture has mythological underpinnings. More specifically, males in our culture are shaped by the presence or absence of initiation rites, male menâ€" tors, and images of masculinity. By using the Grimm fairy tale of Iron John, Bly draws on both ancient and modern myths to explore what is lacking and confused in the selfâ€"awareness of western men While Bly applauds the influence of the women‘s movement in aiding men discover their softer, more nurturent sides, he argues that men have lost touch with the inner warrior.‘ Every few years a book comes along that acts as a beliwether for an unformulated shift in the culture. Spotting such a title before it reaches the bestseller lists is one of my secret joys as a bookseller. Last August | noticed an article about Iron John, a book on male identity by Robert Bly, an American Bookseller. A New Age bookstore had sold some 600 copres (and it wasn‘t even by Danielie Steel)! Later | learned that our store had sold more copies than any other in Canada prior to Iron John starting on the bestseller list. And by midâ€"January I‘d started a men‘s group to discuss the book. Myths and modern times PAGE EZ4 â€" ENTERTAINMENT ZONE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 1991 Ey ; The Entertainment Zone is published every Wednesday by Darlene Royle Circulation Manager: Greg Cassidy Keren Adderley Deborah Crandall Editor: Melodee Martinuk WILL BE OPEN SUNDAY MAY 12th Join us for lunch or dinner Mother‘s Day 8 William St. East J C President: Paul Winkler The Fairway Group Incorporated 215 Fairway Rd. S., Kitchener, Ont. â€"_ Waterioo Town Square 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterioo, Ontario N2J 1P2 Telephone â€" 886â€"2830 Fax. No. 886â€"9383 Major Accounts: lartinuk Bill Karges /?,l(,’ ,__7‘5 12 noon till 9 p.m. Restaurant Display Advertising: Maureen McNab Teresa Clemmer Gerry Mattice Don Steeves Rick Campbell Chuck Erion is a Waterioo bookselier and freeâ€" lance writer many times. As a bellwether, the book signals a reviving interest in mythology. Several threads in our culture get intertwined by this: the ecology movement seeks its spiritual roots in native and aboriginal appreciation of nature; and the feminist movement likewise pursues goddess mythology from preâ€" Christian periods. is there a ground shift away from the greed and materialism of the Yuppie 80s? is spirituality becoming a widelyâ€"felt need? Judging by the books we are selling in these soâ€" called New Age categories, the answer in yes. And for questions of mythology in a worldâ€"wide variety of cultures, there is a twoâ€"volume encyclopedia from University of Chicago Press. Mythologies, edited by Yves Bonnefoy, contains almost 400 articles exploring myths and symbolism, rituals and tradiâ€" tions from ancient Greece to Tolkien. It sells for $234 ($300 after June 30) so is not for the "dabbler‘‘. But even the fact of its publication at this time coincides with a curiosity about deeper meaning in our midst. | wonder what scholars make of the "‘slam dunk‘‘ cult in NBA basketball? 7&%% Off Country Squire Ad. is t ct ‘m,, 1 33 Hours: ThunJl.m.flp;n." Sat. 8 a.m. â€" 11 a.m. ag SL. N. Waterico (across from Waterioo uv-gmuuâ€"n-; Handcrafted Chach C 149 "fo{lery Sale WE‘VE GOT MOM‘S SPECIAL DAY ALL WRAPPED UP! Open Mother‘s Day, Sunday, May 12, 10 a.m.â€"3 p.m. NHiprrrrmrmmmmmmmmemmees 222222000008 0 CCC SPRING SALE Large selection of UNIQUE Giftware Silk & Dried Flower Arrangements CARDS by: Boynton e Corner of King and William Streets, Waterloo 475 King St.N. Waterloo, N2J 225 (519)884â€"0220 x509 $ VarerLoo INN NO G.S.T. ON SALE PRICES Inventory restocked for Saturday Sale Hilliard Hall First United Church Buffet offers three Hot Entrees Salad Bar with a choice 7 over kwenty items Fresh Bread Table Sundays at the Waterloo Inn ... Join us for our .. _ Sunday Evening Buffet 4:00pm â€" 8:00PMm â€" ««« FREE ADMISSION Enjoy The Tradition of Dreamer * Dale and others Waterloo fotters Workshop $8.95 You really do 19