Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo
Published: 2007 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Source: Purchased
This is a great book to read when you want or need a little laugh and a some philosophizing at the same time.
After the tragic death of his parents, Otto Ringling must head to his hometown in North Dakota to settle their affairs. Planning to take the trip with his off-beat sister Cecelia who is afraid of flying, he drives from his home in suburban New York pick her up at her place in New Jersey; only when he arrives she lets him know that she is not going but her spiritual guru, Volya Rinpoche, will accompany him and would Otto mind showing him some of the United States along the way?
It's a bizarre pair of travelling companions, and the metaphorical journey they take is predictable (I thought it was, anyways) but that didn't make the story any less entertaining. I loved this story and how Otto learned from Rinpoche, and Rinpoche learned from Otto; and the adventures that they had on the road.
This is one of my books selected for the 2011 TBR Pile Challenge. I picked it up two or three years ago at The Norwich Bookstore in Norwich, Vermont, essentially just to purchase something. I wish I would have taken it off my shelf before now, because it is a wonderfully enjoyable book to read.
Recommended.
After the tragic death of his parents, Otto Ringling must head to his hometown in North Dakota to settle their affairs. Planning to take the trip with his off-beat sister Cecelia who is afraid of flying, he drives from his home in suburban New York pick her up at her place in New Jersey; only when he arrives she lets him know that she is not going but her spiritual guru, Volya Rinpoche, will accompany him and would Otto mind showing him some of the United States along the way?
It's a bizarre pair of travelling companions, and the metaphorical journey they take is predictable (I thought it was, anyways) but that didn't make the story any less entertaining. I loved this story and how Otto learned from Rinpoche, and Rinpoche learned from Otto; and the adventures that they had on the road.
This is one of my books selected for the 2011 TBR Pile Challenge. I picked it up two or three years ago at The Norwich Bookstore in Norwich, Vermont, essentially just to purchase something. I wish I would have taken it off my shelf before now, because it is a wonderfully enjoyable book to read.
Recommended.
It sounds like this would be a very entertaining read and one that would prod me into some deeper thinking while telling a very engaging story. Thanks for reviewing this little gem for us!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I love a good spin on the road trip story. Can't wait to order this. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAs the author kept reminding herself in her recent memoir And I Shall Have Some Peace There, "Be grateful to everyone."
ReplyDelete