A hit-and-miss spiritual disquisition that sets murky mystical effusions against a gripping testimonial.
Near-death experiences, ancient religions, and everyday miracles add up to overwhelming evidence of God’s existence, according to this ardent philosophical memoir.
Runkis combines elements of Christianity, the cabala, Hindu yogic philosophy and the occult “Hermetic” tradition of the legendary Egyptian sage Hermes Trismegistus into an argument that God exists as a “Non-Mechanical Universe”—one that’s brimming with magic and geared toward responding to human need and teaching spiritual lessons. He offers three major proofs: the biblical story of Moses’ staff turning into a snake that devoured two serpents created by Pharaoh’s magicians, in which Runkis sees a hidden Hermetic assertion of monotheism; the geometrical relationships between the cross, the Star of David, the caduceus, and other symbols; and allegedly “scientifically documented” cases of reincarnation, near-death experiences, and transfigurations by a “Clear White Light.” He offers more evidence in the bulk of the book, which is devoted to the author’s picaresque autobiography. The account touches on his military service during the Vietnam War, the 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco, his time in the yoga ashram of Swami Satchidananda in California, and his own varying careers as a light-show performance artist, a jewelry maker, and an entrepreneur who founded startups in biomedicine, internet technology, and cryptography. Runkis’ life story also tells of moments that he considers to be miraculous intervention by the Non-Mechanical Universe, including the improbable recovery of a diamond that a gem broker misappropriated; an inexplicable swarm of dragonflies that drove away mosquitoes during an outdoor ashram lecture; and a person who happened by and fixed the author’s pickup truck when it broke down in a remote forest.
Runkis’ treatise relies on sacred texts, controversial accounts of reincarnation and near-death experiences, and an unfalsifiable theory that virtually everything that happens—good, bad, monstrous, random—constitutes divine spiritual tutelage. As such, it will likely not convince skeptics of God’s existence. Interspersed with his arguments are snippets of mystical doctrine, yoga practice tips (“Complete this mudra by looking up, crossing your eyes, and focusing them on the same point of pressure at the crown of your head”), and erudite but often turgid excursions into esoteric lore (“Christ is the Rose, the heart, Tiphereth, the source and center of all things, the sublime force that unites Malkuth with Kether—the principle of Earth with the Crown of Creation—in the Holy Kabbalah”). Most involving are Runkis’ psychedelic depictions of his own visionary trances: “I rocketed up and up in an ecstatic paroxysm of brilliant white-hot energy, an orgasm-like force without end or ejaculation until I was impelled into the most beautiful and peaceful Garden I have ever seen.” Runkis is a vivid, forceful writer when he sticks to his earthly doings, as in his engrossing stories of a marijuana-smuggling adventure in Europe, white-knuckle tales of business reversals, and an account of a yearslong medical crisis. In these passages, his insights on the power of faith feel authentic and well-earned.
A hit-and-miss spiritual disquisition that sets murky mystical effusions against a gripping testimonial.Pub Date: June 28, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64182-432-3
Page Count: 314
Publisher: Austin Macauley
Review Posted Online: April 22, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
A juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.
The iconic model tells the story of her eventful life.
According to the acknowledgments, this memoir started as "a fifty-page poem and then grew into hundreds of pages of…more poetry." Readers will be glad that Anderson eventually turned to writing prose, since the well-told anecdotes and memorable character sketches are what make it a page-turner. The poetry (more accurately described as italicized notes-to-self with line breaks) remains strewn liberally through the pages, often summarizing the takeaway or the emotional impact of the events described: "I was / and still am / an exceptionally / easy target. / And, / I'm proud of that." This way of expressing herself is part of who she is, formed partly by her passion for Anaïs Nin and other writers; she is a serious maven of literature and the arts. The narrative gets off to a good start with Anderson’s nostalgic memories of her childhood in coastal Vancouver, raised by very young, very wild, and not very competent parents. Here and throughout the book, the author displays a remarkable lack of anger. She has faced abuse and mistreatment of many kinds over the decades, but she touches on the most appalling passages lightly—though not so lightly you don't feel the torment of the media attention on the events leading up to her divorce from Tommy Lee. Her trip to the pages of Playboy, which involved an escape from a violent fiance and sneaking across the border, is one of many jaw-dropping stories. In one interesting passage, Julian Assange's mother counsels Anderson to desexualize her image in order to be taken more seriously as an activist. She decided that “it was too late to turn back now”—that sexy is an inalienable part of who she is. Throughout her account of this kooky, messed-up, enviable, and often thrilling life, her humility (her sons "are true miracles, considering the gene pool") never fails her.
A juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9780063226562
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
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