| Category: | Humor |
|---|---|
| Author: | Paul Steven Stone |
| Publisher: | Blind Elephant Press (Paul Steven Stone, publisher) |
| Publication Date: | April 26, 2008 |
| Number of Pages: | 432 |
| ISBN-13: | 978-1438207698 |
| ASIN: | B07NSB3BY5 |
Or So It Seems by Paul Steven Stone follows Paul
Peterson, a divorced advertising copywriter and former spiritual seeker, who
finds himself in a very precarious situation with his son’s teacher, Allison
Pratt. This moment triggers a metaphysical “Do-It-Yourself Workshop,” guided by
the spirit of his deceased guru, The Bapucharya. Paul revisits important
memories, including a humiliating Pinewood Derby involving his son Mickey,
turbulent relationships with ex-lover Ellie Eichorn and ex-wife Marilyn, and
childhood trauma connected to his abusive father. As Paul experiences these
flashbacks and flashforwards from a heightened state of consciousness near the “Center
Point of the Universe,” he seeks to understand the karmic lessons shaping his
life. The story climaxes when Paul confronts Allison's violent ex-boyfriend,
Junior. But will he survive what’s to come?
Paul Steven Stone is a gifted storyteller and entertainer,
and he successfully blends first-person-narrative voice with the impersonal
third-person-narrative voice to deliver a story that makes one think about one’s
life and experiences. I was pulled in by how well the author picks up mundane
experiences and infuses them with extraordinary beauty, always leading to deep
spiritual inquiries. Themes of fatherhood, karma, and redemption recur
throughout the pages, and Paul's desire to protect his son from the mistakes he
made gives the story a unique resonance. The quirkiness of the voice and the
funny characters, like the giggling, irreverent Bapucharya, made this worth
reading for me, and it takes a unique skill to explore spiritual truths about
consciousness and the illusion of time while keeping readers entertained. Streams
of consciousness and social commentary elevate the beauty of the writing in Or
So It Seems and feel like part of the story when you read some of them: “We
are most of us divorced, most of us looking for a second or third chance to
make it work, most of us resigned to the conditions in which we hunt.” This
non-linear, spiritually rich, and hugely entertaining story wins at multiple
levels.
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