Perspective

Joseph Campbell taught Comparative Mythology at Sarah Lawrence College for forty years. Among the many books he wrote, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" became a bestseller. This book, "The Power of Myth" is based on a six hour PBS series that originated from the recorded interviews of Joseph Campbell by the noted television journalist Bill Moyers in 1985 and 1986. As the book's editor, Betty Sue Flowers, notes in the introduction, the opportunity has been taken to include material, which because of length restrictions, had to be edited from the transcript of the television series. She adds that she has been faithful to the flow of the original conversation and that the book is intended as a companion to the series but not a replica thereof. The intended audience is all those who so enthusiastically greeted the original PBS television series as well as the many readers who already...