Walk into any of Ann Arbor's charming local bookstores and you will be overwhelmed by a conundrum of self-help books. It's enough to make your head spin. Follow the latest fad diet and yoga workout and you, too, will be on the way to spiritual enlightenment.
"Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life," by Thomas Moore, joins the books on the self-help shelf, but does not proclaim the value of any novelty lifestyle. In contrast, it simply affirms the importance of viewing life from a simplistic point of view.
As a young man, Moore studied for the Catholic priesthood, spending 12 years in American and Irish religious communities. He left the order before being ordained and has earned degrees in theology, musicology and philosophy.
"Care of the Soul" does not embrace organized religion; however, it vehemently stresses the value of spirituality in life. The book opens with a statement of its purpose: "When soul is neglected, it doesn't just go away; it appears symptomatically in obsessions, addictions, violence, and loss of meaning. Our temptation is to isolate these symptoms or try to eradicate them one by one; but the root problem is that we have lost our wisdom about the soul, even our interest in it."
Moore embraces the psychological theories of Freud and Jung, but combines them with Homer, Plato, and Greek and Roman mythology. For example, he examines the advantages and disadvantages of selfishness through a careful reading of the Narcissus story. The young man, having spurned the love of a woman, was forced to fall in love with his own image in a pool. Moore's interpretation: "Narcissus becomes able to love himself only when he learns to love that self as an object. He now has a view of himself as someone else. This is not ego loving ego; this is ego loving the soul, loving a face the soul presents."
At times, Moore's theories stretch the boundaries of the practical. However, he is always able to support his theories with rational argument, be it taken from ancient literature or his own experiences as a therapist. His reasoning is simple and straightforward. Although the book may have little value as a classic form of therapy, it makes you sit back and look at your life, and it does make the soul feel more at peace.
"Care of the Soul" is now accompanied by a CD, "Music for the Soul," filled with selections picked by Moore as background music for a peaceful life. The relaxing classical music may not be "A Program for Re-enchantment," as the title claims, but it is a good selection for studying or other high-stress times.
"Care of the Soul" and "Music for the Soul" are not works around which to fashion your life. If you are truly soul-searching, you would be better to look at the classics to which Moore refers. However, "Care of the Soul" is entertaining reading, and is probably as philosophical as anyone wants to get while sitting in a lawn chair soaking up the rays this summer.
- Jessica Eaton
Stephan Jaramillo is to the literary world what Nirvana and Nine Inch Nails are to the music world. Full of Generation X angst and a witty way of expressing it, Jaramillo writes a happenin' '90s response to J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye." Full of insight into a world that is often too hectic, "Going Postal" good-naturedly reaches out to anyone who needs a little direction in their lives.
Jaramillo's "Going Postal" describes the life of average-Joe Steve Reeves. Steve is an intelligent guy, a college graduate and the son of a crazy postman. He's got a job that he hates at a Berkeley bagel shop, a car that often seems suicidal and a relationship with a girl who he's not quite sure about.
While home for his sister's wedding (to another postman, of course), he realizes that he can't stand his neurotic family. With his father's gift of a gun in tow, Steve returns to Berkeley to find that his girlfriend has dumped him for a hippie, that he's been fired from his job and that his car is still a crappy piece of, well, crap.
With no direction and a lot of angst, Steve attempts to wade through life without ultimately "going postal."
"Going Postal" is a darkly comic work of fiction that is driven by the main character's psychotic yet insightful views of life. With Steve, we explore relationships and why we bother having them. With Steve, we travel the streets of San Francisco, learning the pleasures provided by friendship and a lot of cheap beer. And with Steve, we learn that if he's crazy, then so are we.
Steve Reeves is the hero to whom we are afraid to relate, yet who exists as the psychological id inside of everybody. We wish the best for him, as if his finding salvation will guarantee a good life for the rest of us. Yet his bitterness and wildly wicked fantasies are things we all secretly identify with - such as how Steve experiences recurring fantasies of "violent torture scenarios involving my old boss, Shorter, and steamy reunion scenes concerning [my ex-girlfriend]."
The character of Steve is loosely based on the author's real life and family (his father is really a postman, though not as psychotic), and Jaramillo has lived in the same cities and held some of the same demeaning jobs as his protagonist. Through Steve, Jaramillo points out the humor in the little things in life, making the narrative of "Going Postal" an enjoyable one to follow.
"Going Postal" is Jaramillo's second book. Its success far outshines that of his first, which chronicled life in the kitchen of an upscale restaurant. Jaramillo shows that he is an extremely promising young author who uses violence, sarcasm, wit and humor to paint his picture of reality.
Jaramillo is adroit at combining an informal style of writing and his devilish little thoughts into a voice that often appears to come from within our own minds. Readers will genuinely feel the loss and hatred of the hero after he is dumped by his girlfriend, and they may relate to the frequent and hilarious questioning of sexual orientation in regard to Steve's friend Callahan, who is "secretly bisexual (possibly secretly homosexual)."
Gradually, all of Steve's friends become endearing, from his explosive cowboy-junkie friend Brady, to Billy, the last Hell's Angel in all of Berkeley. Jaramillo's rich description of his characters and their often peculiar antics make them some of the most memorable figures ever immortalized on paper.
As Steve tries to find meaning in his life - or at least something that will prevent him from taking out everyone in sight with his gun - readers are welcome to join the ride and learn how to joyfully taste life with all of its sweets and sometimes bitter, slightly alcoholic aftertaste.
"Going Postal," complete with all of its four-letter expletives, wonderful characters and hilariously sardonic plot, is an enjoyable read that will appeal to anyone who is looking for some direction in the world. Life through the eyes of Stephan Jaramillo can be light-hearted, whimsical and impossible to take seriously. Before Jaramillo, life was never so pop-culture obsessed, so unbearable or so ambiguous. But it was never so much fun, either.
So if you're down, don't even think about going postal. Go out and read this book instead. You won't be disappointed.
- Julia Shih