This
novel is about Eric, the broken author of motivational self help
books. Eric has made a fortune by telling people that that can do
anything they want if they have a positive attitude and believe it
possible. He is broken because, despite all that he has written and
the inspirational lectures he has given, he could not stop his
beloved wife from dying.
He
retires from the world and lives in a remote cottage in Martha's
Vineyard with only his wife's old German shepherd dog, Ralph, for
company. There he is found by Sam, a woman who has read all his books
and believes all he taught. Yet she too is battling problems of her
own. Together they begin a journey that is a search for meaning. He
tries unsuccessfully to write his next book which addresses the “why”
question. This is the real question that Eric and Sam and struggling
to answer, namely why is it that when people do all the right things
crap still happens?
The
book is dark journey through the sub-conscious emotions of desire,
love and guilt. The plot is not straightforward and in places
confusing The characters are not very
likeable but become understandable as the story unfolds. The book explores the vacuous
hype peddled by motivational life coaches and comes to the conclusion
that theologians have long known that suffering is a mystery and the
things that happen can afflict good and bad people alike. (Theodicy is the name for the study of the problem of evil in a world with a good God.)
For
me one of the best parts of the book was the loving portrayal of the
dog Ralph who is a constant feature through Eric's life: courtship,
marriage and widowhood. At the end of the book the old dog dies and I
was left wondering how Eric will live without Ralph. But that is part
of the ambiguity of the ending.
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