DEEP PLAY

"Ackerman brings such joy to the page.... The very act of reading this original, exultant, sage, poetic, and generous meditation on the importance of enchantment is deep play, and you can't ask that a book be anything more wonderful than that." --Booklist

"A fascinating subject, written in a swiftly moving and sensuous prose." --Washington Post Book World


This book invites people to look closely at the human saga, and consider how much of it revolves around play. Simple play, elaborate play, crude play, sophisticated play, violent play, casual play. Most animals play. Evolution itself plays with lifeforms. Whole cultures play with customs, ideas, belief systems, and fashions. But it’s a special caliber of play, deep play, that makes thrill-seeking understandable, creativity possible, and religion inevitable. Deep play awakens the most creative, sentient, and joyful aspects of our inner selves. More than anything else, our passion for deep play has made us the puzzling and resplendent beings we are.

A dramatic love story that combines science, inspiration, wisdom, and heart.
A true WWII story of people, animals, and subversive acts of compassion.
A book that celebrates nature at dawn, many forms of awakening, and the healing power of nature.
A poetic exploration of the mysteries of the brain and the marvel of the mind.
A natural history of the garden, by an intellectual sensualist. “An enchanting book.”--New York Times Book Review
A celebration of the five senses. "An aphrodisiac for the sense receptors." --Chicago tribune
A special caliber of play that awakens the most creative, sentient, and joyful aspects of our inner selves.
Adventure stories among endangered animals.
More adventures among endangered animals.
A memoir about learning to fly and what that teaches one about the world.
A delightfully witty collection of poems showing how the senses enrich the experiences of all living beings.