Ebook: The Book of Three Things 2nd edition

"The 'Book of Three Things' began as a vivid lucid dream that I had in 1986.

I was at a formal dinner in Victorian London, in a two-level ballroom. The lower floor was for dining and dancing, while the upper level was an open mezzanine which overlooked the first floor. The dance floor was covered with semi-glossy off-white tile. I was on the mezzanine, looking down at all of these elegant people enjoying themselves. Suddenly, there was a blood-curdling scream from the area furthest from me on the lower level. The people panicked and ran, almost stampeding away from the howling. IN a moment I saw a small green figure, which appeared to be the head, trunk and arms of a Central American native, sitting in what appeared to be a kayak. The creature had one oar which resembled a cricket bat, and it was waving it as it sailed across the floor, still screaming. Next to it floated what appeared to be a large green turkey leg which was rotating in time with the screams. Although I did not know what it was, I knew that if it got near anyone, that person would die. I was terrified. Suddenly, an Englishman my age came to the rail with an .08 gauge shot gun, and he aimed and fired it directly at the creature, which was torn apart by the shot and died. The intensity of the dream woke me, and after I calmed down, I drew the first sketches of the creature, which eventually became the cover of 'The Book of Three Things.'"

~ Roy Waidler in a 2014 interview

The book is a series of poems, visions and hallucinations, dreams, pen-and-ink drawings and a unique form of calligraphy developed by the author over a period of two decades. The original edition was begun in 1987 and completed in 1990, and was printed in a run of fifty copies. Computer typesetting for several pieces was done by Ed Rosenblatt. The second edition was scanned from a copy of the first, and subsequently formatted for this digital edition using Open Office.

Notes by Sarai Iehanne van Beeuwelan