Must Not Sleep by Michael Brownstein

By turns hilarious and chilling, poet and novelist Michael Brownstein's latest novel MUST NOT SLEEP is a shamanic initiation into personal freedom -- political, emotional, and sexual -- which uncovers the secrets behind the destructive policies of those in positions of power. It's the story of Isaac, seemingly just a time-server in the system (he works "at a mid-level position for a mid-sized company in midtown Manhattan") whose programming is wiped clean as the result of a series of "big dreams" during which he loses all fear of death. Filled with light, feeling invincible, Isaac encounters a woman similarly determined to erase her past who eagerly takes a new name for herself: Georgia. Together they enter a shamanic realm where limitations of time and space no longer apply and where the real forces behind the trashing of the planet soon reveal themselves. MUST NOT SLEEP answers these questions: Who or what is encouraging environmental meltdown and a state of perpetual war? Why does the current American administration engage in actions seeming to sabotage our future? When Isaac realizes that something more than human greed must explain what's going on, another order of reality opens up. The demonic possession of our leading political figures shows itself in ways he and Georgia are barely able to withstand. But all is not lost: learning to use their innate powers, they are able to heal both themselves and the darkest figure of the present moment, "the man with the frozen heart." Michael Brownstein's website (www.healingdick.com) contains related work including the new CD "Healing Dick." "The first roll of the shaman's drum in fiction, this incendiary novel asks why wer'e pursuing policies on a global scale almost certain to result in our destruction. Who or what is responsible for this situation? Read MUST NOT SLEEP and find out." -- John Perkins, author of CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN