A book with true wisdom to share, even if it’s a little rough around the edges.
A sequel novel about one man’s relationships and personal development.
Frank follows up The Courage of a Butterfly (2018) with another intimate look at the life of protagonist Jeff Williams, who has a motorcycle accident in the Utah desert. Things look grim, as he’s not only injured, but once again accompanied by a personification of Death, whom he affectionately calls “Big D.” Jeff believes that “everything in my life is there as a lesson for my learning,” so what better opportunity for engaging in some introspective education than being stranded in inhospitable terrain? The previous book was structured as a more linear telling of the events of Jeff’s life, starting in childhood, but this volume is mostly dedicated to specific interactions with people he met along the way. Key events include his divorce after some 25 years of marriage, and a clash with a man who claimed to have been part of a white witches’ coven. Jeff has much hard-won truth to impart, often summed up in “Spiritual Laws”; as he shares concepts such as “Everyone in your life is there, bearing you a gift of learning,” he also shows how he came to know their truth through experience, including during time spent with motorcycle clubs. Frank provides his protagonist with a crass mode of expression from the get-go; for example, Jeff reflects that his first marriage officially ended when his wife complained, “Why can’t you wipe your butt better?” It’s clear right away that Jeff isn’t the type of person to mince words, and this extends to accounts of sexual experiences; readers may not necessarily want to know about the “exotic muskiness” of one of his love interest’s “most private of privates,” for instance. That said, this style combines well with the characters’ earnest accounts of road trips and spiritual healing. There’s a heartfelt honesty that permeates the pages, which makes for a memorable read, and readers may find themselves learning a lot from this account of an unwavering quest for self-discovery.
A book with true wisdom to share, even if it’s a little rough around the edges.Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73483-675-2
Page Count: 428
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A passionate, gorgeously written fictional account of an intellectual Russian woman's journey back to God and the Orthodox Christianity of her ancestors. ``Veronica,'' a widow in her mid-40s, journeys to the ancient monastery of Dzhvari in Georgia with her beloved son Mitya. The monastery is tiny and austere, and mother and son are met by just three monks. Still, life there is a revelation. Practicing the ancient ``Jesus Prayer,'' taking Communion, and talking with the terse, insightful abbot, Father Michael, is like finding water after a lifetime of thirst to this member of the Russian intelligentsia. Although women generally are forbidden in the monastery, Veronica is given special permission to stay for a period of weeks. Realizing that her days there are numbered, she drinks in everything, talking with the abbot at every opportunity. Their conversations are anything but light: ``Father Michael had said that in order to believe in God and receive this truth you must offer your entire being—your heart, will, understanding, mode of life. What can understanding do by itself?'' When their brief stay is up, both mother and son seem to have tasted something of a truth that passes human understanding. The story then jumps ahead six years: Veronica, now 50, visits another near-abandoned monastery (this one for women) while she awaits word from her son, who has become a monk. Though lonely, she puts her life in God's hands, reflecting on all the holy and instructive encounters she has had since she became a Christian a mere decade before. Miraculously, she receives word that her son has been sent to serve as a priest in a remote parish: God is good. She'll join Mitya and will live the rest of her life plumbing the mystery of Christianity with her son. A contemporary Way of the Pilgrim, first published in Russia in 1989, that's also a profoundly moving look at the state of one brave Russian woman's soul.
Pub Date: July 2, 1993
ISBN: 0-517-59194-4
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1993
A facile New Age story in which the author and his wife are initiated into the cult of angels by a band of women bikers in the Mojave Desert. Coelho (The Alchemist, 1993) tells how, at the bidding of his "Master," a wealthy businessman, he and his wife, Chris, go off into the desert for 40 days to look for his guardian angel. They find their enlightenment first from Gene, a young man who lives in a trailer, and finally from eight women, known as the Valkyries, who roam the desert on motorcycles and whose wild leader, Valhalla, becomes the couple's mystagogue. Coelho's basic message is that Paradise is open and angels are present if only we break the pact of our self-betrayal and learn to conquer fear and the distractions of our "second mind." Unfortunately, he fails to go anywhere with this potentially exciting but hardly original vision. What he offers is a kind of doctrinal salad in which belief in angels, channeling, and casual sex are mixed with references to Magic rites, Catholic worship, and reincarnation. Coelho uses his characters to emphasize the dubious position that spiritual knowledge can be gained without any connection to how one lives. At times his wisdom turns out to be the familiar exhortation to follow our dreams, and he asserts, without clarification, that we are all manifestations of the Absolute. Coelho's ignorance and superficiality are most blatant when he tells us that St. Mary of Egypt was canonized for her promiscuity and is remembered by almost no one today, whereas in fact, she was converted during her famous visit to Jerusalem, spent the rest of her life as a penitent, and is solemnly commemorated every year by the Orthodox Church all over the world. More pap for the spiritually challenged.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-06-251291-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1995
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
