Excerpts

Preface T HE DREAMSELLER IS A SAGA TOLD IN SEVERAL VOLUMES with the same characters. In this saga, drama and comedy, pain and laughter, sanity and madness permeate the texts and roil the story. Though there is a sequence, each book can be read separately. I was not expecting the first book, The Dreamseller: The Calling, to have such explosive success overseas, especially because it is intensely critical of the social system and denounces modern societies as having become huge mental institutions in which being sick is normal. The Calling introduces a mysterious character--the Dreamseller, whose origin and history are unknown and who "calls" the wanderers to follow him on a risky journey to reflect upon and denounce the madness of the social system. The disciples are wild, eccentric, complex and confused. The dreamseller prods his listeners to search the most important place of all, a place that even kings have rarely found: the inner reaches of the human soul. In the second book, The Revolution, the dreamseller continues to turn society upside down. His "crazy" disciples, among whom Bartholomew and Barnabas stand out, spread their wings, revealing a surprising creativity and causing endless and unexpected adventures. They provoke everything and everyone, including the dreamseller himself. This novel demonstrates that societies are made up of anonymous heroes. Among the anonymous are the depressed, who confront their emotions with dignity; the anxious, who dream of calmer days; cancer patients, who fight for life and make each day an eternal moment; parents, who exhaust body and mind to support and educate their children; teachers, who, for meager salaries and without praise from society, move the world by teaching critical thinking to their students; students, who quixotically believe they can change history, unaware that they live in an unbending social system hardly sympathetic to new ideas; workers in offices and firms, who go unnoticed unless they cause a scene but who have uplifting stories. All of them are in some way dreamsellers--although they also sell nightmares. Every human being is a vault of secrets. Exploring them, spending time with them is a privilege. As a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and author of a theory that studies the intriguing world of complex thinking, I have learned a great deal from each of those anonymous individuals. I've discovered a treasure buried in their minds. I feel small next to many of them. The Dreamseller: The Revolution, by emphasizing these anonymous figures, reflects the amazing complexity of our history, which is written with tears and joy, calm and anxiety, sanity and madness. Excerpted from The Dreamseller: the Revolution: A Novel by Augusto Cury All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.