In the Land of Temple Caves

“I just plain loved In the Land of Temple Caves. Frederick Turner makes a compelling case for civility organized in response to culture–shaping art as our most ancient source of saving graces. Beautifully said, humanely thought out, the story he tells is particularly useful in these sorrowful times. Read, and take heart!” —William Kittredge, author of The Willow Field

In the Land of Temple Caves travels back to the very beginning of Art to assess anew its meanings in the long human story. Frederick Turner makes a personal investigation of sanctuaries in France and Spain that the great mythographer Joseph Campbell called the “temple caves,” the earliest known of which contains paintings and engravings more than 32,000 years old, works of art more advanced than the hunting implements by which their creators lived. In caves and prehistoric shelters, along the valleys tracing the mighty rivers of the Ice Age, in a war–ravaged village, and in a city church far removed from the country of the caves, Turner finds resonant meaning in what he has always believed to be true. Art does matter—vitally—and never more than now.Praise for In the Land of Temple Caves

“Frederick Turner’s In the Land of Temple Caves examines the first roots of western art in the caves of the Dordogne which may fairly be called the birthplace of the Occident. Turner’s prose often reaches sublimity as he casts the wide arc of his profound knowledge and wisdom from Cro–Magnon splendors to the problematical present where the gods die suffocated by our strenuous banality. This book is permanent.” —Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall

“Frederick Turner’s journey to the origins of human artistic expression, in the temple caves of southwest France, is at once bracing, instructive, and delightful. He is a superb guide to that which makes us fully human, and in the wall paintings of our most distant ancestors he discovers what is most enduring in the human spirit: the noble intertwining of our aspirations with our surroundings. This is a book of and for the ages.” —Christopher Merrill, author of Self–Portrait with Dogwood

“How can we possibly understand horrific acts of inhumanity like the recent tragedy on 9/11, or the earlier World War II massacre of French villagers at Oradour–sur–Glane? Fredrick Turner tackles this hard problem in an elegant and compelling book . . . In The Land of Temple Caves is a wise and thoughtful look at ourselves, from both sides of the mirror.” —David S. Whitley, author of Cave Paintings and the Human Spirit

“I just plain loved In the Land of Temple Caves. Frederick Turner makes a compelling case for civility organized in response to culture–shaping art as our most ancient source of saving graces. Beautifully said, humanely thought out, the story he tells is particularly useful in these sorrowful times. Read, and take heart!” —William Kittredge, author of The Willow Field

“With learning that embraces not only the history but the literary evolution, the dreams, and the profound psychic cravings of Western development, with insight, elegance, and uncanny precision that his readers have come to take for granted, Turner’s work addresses the underlying delusion, the tragedy, the wreckage of our age, and how it came to pass. We are all in his debt.” —W.S. MerwinFrederick Turner is the author or editor of several books, including Renegade: Henry Miller and the Making of Tropic of Cancer and The Kid and Me: A Novel. He has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.