Lao Tzu

A rich, poetic, and socially relevant version of the great spiritual and philosophical classic of Taoism from one of America's leading literary figures.

Most people know Ursula K. Le Guin for her extraordinary science fiction and fantasy writing. Fewer know just how pervasive Taoist themes are to so much of her work. And in Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, we are treated to Le Guin's unique take on Taoist philosophy's founding classic.

Reflecting more than forty years of Le Guin's personal study and contemplation, her rendering of the text is a brilliant testament to her deep-seated understanding of Taoist principles and their value for our troubled world today. Avoiding traditional patriarchal interpretations, scholarly fixations, and esotericism, she embues the Tao Te Ching with transformative, awe-inspiring power like no other.

Also included are Le Guin's personal reflections and notes on the text throughout. To anyone who has enjoyed Le Guin's writing and yearns for a deeper window into her mind--or to all who simply wish to explore the philosophical bedrock that shaped an incredible, historically significant author--Le Guin's Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching will be an incomparable treasure.

About the Author

Ursula Le Guin was bornin Berkley, California, in 1929, daughter of the writer Theodora Krober and theanthropologist Alfred Krober. Her published work includes twenty-one novels,eleven volumes of short stories, three collections of essays, twelve books forchildren, six volumes of poetry and four of translation. Among her novels arethe The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed , both winners of the Nebula and Hugoawards, Always Coming Home, winner of the 1985 Kafka Award,and Four Ways to Forgiveness. In 2009 she won her sixth Nebulaaward for Powers. She died in January 2018 aged 88.

Penguin/Puffin published the first volume ofthe Earthsea books, A Wizard of Earthsea , in 1971. The Earthsea books have been translatedinto many languages around the world and are global bestsellers.