@RUTGERS.ARPA:jpa144@cit-vax (02/17/85)
From: jpa144@cit-vax (Jens Peter Alfke) Just to complete things: The three volumes of Illuminatus! (Robert Shea / Robert Anton Wilson) are The Eye in the Pyramid The Golden Apple Leviathan As far as I know, all are still in print (paperback) from Dell books. Very very highly recommended. Even if you disagree with what the authors are trying to say, the series will still give you some ideas . . . Wilson has also put out a (sortof) sequel to Illuminatus!, called Schrodinger's Cat; another trilogy consisting of: The Universe Next Door The Trick Top Hat The Homing Pigeons These books are not closely connected to Illuminatus!, although they have a few characters in common, but the chaotic style and philosophies are still there, although these books deal less with the "secret-society" concept. Each of the three books assumes, and is based on, a different interpretation of quantum mechanics: the Everett/Wheeler/Graham model, Bell's Theorem, and Non-Objectivity, respectively. No, really! It actually makes some sense, and in any case the books are much more entertaining than the "serious" tomes on how-QM-is-really-god drivel. Recommended to those who liked Illuminatus!; perhaps a tad too weird for others. Oh, yes, there's also the game Illuminati, put out by Steve Jackson Games. Each player controls a supersecret orginazation which is trying to take control of all the neutral organizations. A fun time, especially if you like to screw over your friends. Worth buying just to see the names of all the groups: the Gnomes of Zurich, the Servants of Cthulhu (some of the Illuminati), the Orbital Mind Control Lasers, Fnord Motor Company, the Fred Birch Society, Secret Masters of Fandom, the International Communist Conspiracy, Robot Sea Monsters . . . as well as for the vicarious thrill of taking over Trekkies, Convenience Stores, Nuclear Power Companies, the I.R.S., Cycle Gangs, Psychiatrists, California, etc. (There's also a Play-by-mail version of Illuminati that I've just started playing.) Kallisti, --Peter Alfke "Justin Case suspected that the FBI was tapping his phone. However, 9,000,000 out of the 20,000,000 primates in New York also suspected the FBI of tapping their phones. Case just happened to be one of the 8,000,000 who were correct in this suspicion." --from Schrodinger's Cat