Johannah

Expressive, full of heart...and oh so much squalor

Revisado: 09-08-23

The author has shown a light on a time and a part of the distressed country where native land-based folk were the target of the Purdue pharmaceutical algorithm. Turns out poverty made these folks prime targets for optimal profit at their own expense. I don't doubt the veracity of such a tale and feel the author deserves a great deal of acknowledgment and praise for her research, character development, descriptive prowess, and overall skill. Demon definitely "stole all my juice," and there was no way to walk away from his story before knowing how he would settle. But, it was often a merciless and sad tale...in some places and some way it was a car wreck you couldn't look away from...not so much out of morbid curiosity as deep concern. "Could this story be that of someone I know, a family member even?" I think this is what unnerved some readers. We don't generally want nineteen hours of consciousness raising via the unfolding of seemingly endless and unmitigated suffering flashed before us. Even though done in a compelling way, it was Not just fiction, and one could only stand by...helplessly. This is what it is like to have blinders removed and to become aware. So, even though painful and haunting I will never again mock the Southern accent or define a whole demographic with blithe and ignorant ridicule. For that and much more I am grateful.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Engaging story...couldn't put it down...

Revisado: 02-07-23

I loved the author's voice! This book was very well written, and the author is so vulnerable, honest, and intriguing that I immediately bought the paperback version. I enjoyed the photos documenting this man's liminal experience in the early days of the burgeoning American Sikh community. The author was barely twenty when he was compelled toward the promise of community and spiritual meaning initiated by a powerful new “Saturn” teacher from India. At first, the author is swept up into luminous and exotic experiences, and at times it almost seems like he had found salvation.

But, this doesn't last long. While listening to the non-blaming way the author describes the "master's" behaviors I, as a reader, wanted to reach back in time to warn the young man to take heed of his teacher's dark side. It is palpable how naive and, therefore, how incredibly vulnerable he was to the gut wrenching psychological trauma that his teacher, “Yogi Bhajan,” exacted upon those who, like lambs to the slaughter, sought refuge in a "father figure."

And yet, the author's resilience shines through. I was wonderfully surprised by the recordings of the author's music inserted in various parts of the narrative, and wished I could find more of it. His main entree into Bhajan’s “inner circle” was through his savant musical abilities that were showcased in the Khalsa String Band, which the author created and with whom he recorded and performed in venues across the country and widely in India. It was fun to see the author seated on a high platform, wearing robes and a turban while playing music for dignitaries and crowds at the Golden Temple!

While this was a deeply personal narrative it also reveals the unfolding of near universal narcissistic abuse that defines the playbook of every cult leader, whether religious or political. That being said, this book is a “first,” specifically because it is told through the lens of a man with high functioning autism, who can write with fluent grace, and who developed his most beautiful voice and expression through music. How confusing it must have been to shine so brightly in the darkness that was Yogi Bhajan's perverse exploitation of Sikhism. I am impatient for the publication of Book II!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Felt like I was in a horror film!

Revisado: 04-29-21

I very much agree with the principle of preparing for surgery with self hypnosis, mindfulness, and imagery but the narrator was so unnecessarily affected and the music was straight out of an episode of Night Shadows or The Twilight Zone. This was more frightening than relaxing on the one hand and comical on the other. The narrator could maybe just have relaxed a bit and perhaps there should have been some greater effort to find more uplifting /relaxing music. So glad I sampled it before taking in to surgery!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña