Novel Ideas
I’m not spiritual. I’m not even sure I envy those who are. I like being human, and am fascinated by humanity. I will concentrate on that while I’m alive. If there’s anything after this, I’ll deal with it then. If there’s nothing, it won’t matter. Given all that, I’m surprised I stayed with Roland Merullo’s Breakfast with Buddha until the end, all 320 pages. It’s a first account of a man in his early 40’s whose parents have been killed in a car wreck that occurred weeks before the start of the narrative. Happily married, father of two, he works at a Manhattan firm that specializes in publishing books on food. He grew up on a farm in North Dakota and must return to settle affairs. His free-spirit sister pulls a fast one on him, pulling out of the cross country car trip, sending her guru in her place. The odd couple’s conversations and actions comprise most of the book. I don’t recall having ever read a novel in which the characters were so decent — and not at all square — and that, to an extent, was refreshing. It is the exact opposite of my own road novel, Present and Past, wherein indecency rules. The prose and dialogue are solid. There is much humor, although I did not laugh out loud. Of course, the real focus of such a work is the thirst for meaning, which afflicts even those who have a good life. Will the protagonist change for the better? Will he change at all? Will the reader be changed? I wasn’t, but I’m sure believers and those who long to believe would eat it up. Its continued commercial success — it was published in 2008 - and positive reviews at Amazon attest to it. 900+ readers have rated Breakfast…, forging to a consensus of 4.4 on a scale of five. I wouldn’t go nearly that high, but there were at least two aspects to which I related. The Rinpoche (Rin-po-shea) uses a wonderful metaphor, covering a colorful leaf with an inverted teacup. The cup represents a human’s defenses, the leaf the beauty that is possible and too often submerged. There was also this interesting thought from the protagonist late in the narrative: “… if you saw the creatures around you as pieces of a sacred whole, everything temporary, just playing out a role in a dream, then things would be funny a lot of the time, kaleidoscopic, comically absurd.” Born in Boston in 1953, Merullo has published 16 novels, seven works of non-fiction, three novellas and a short story collection, according to his Wiki profile. He has written two sequels to Breakfast — Lunch and Dinner. I’ll pass. I’m glad I read the first, but am happy it’s behind me.
Here’s a captivating headline from foxnews.com: “Soldier who lost ear in accident gets another after doctors ‘grow’ it on her arm.” The medical team used cartilage from the woman’s ribs to form a new, non-artificial ear. It then needed to grow under the skin of the arm before transplanting could take place. Here’s pics:
The lack of parking at my usual nook sent the floating book shop back to Bay Parkway today. I thought business would be a lot better than yesterday. It was almost exactly the same. Fortunately, it was a lot cooler, a fresh breeze making the endeavor easy physically. Sometimes it’s baffling. The inventory is as good as it gets right now, and folks ignored it. My thanks to the stylish, 40ish woman, who bought a large print copy of Stephen King’s Duma Key, the only sale of the session; and to Sasha’s grandma, who donated a great blend of books in Russian, art pictorials, and popular fiction in English. She will be moving soon, and I’ll miss her. After a five-year wait on a housing waiting list, her mom, in her 80’s, has scored a one-bedroom apartment in a brand new waterfront building in Coney Island — at $400 a month!
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