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bert22's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
laurenmiller100's review against another edition
I have to agree with pastaylor’s review: “Let me start with this: if you are looking for an introduction to the dharma or Buddhism, or the twelve steps, or punk rock philosophy, or how to combine all three, this is not that book. It is not meant to be that book.”
I was definitely hoping for something with more self reflection. We’re sort of just getting the facts of his life with no analysis of why he was so messed up to begin with. I wanted him to get into how Buddhist ideas interact with a punk lifestyle and ideology. But it doesn’t really go there at least as far as I read. Just not what I was hoping for.
I was definitely hoping for something with more self reflection. We’re sort of just getting the facts of his life with no analysis of why he was so messed up to begin with. I wanted him to get into how Buddhist ideas interact with a punk lifestyle and ideology. But it doesn’t really go there at least as far as I read. Just not what I was hoping for.
radicaledwardiv's review against another edition
5.0
Great book. I love his writing style. Really relatable and enjoyable to read!
neilsarver's review against another edition
2.0
This just wasn't for me.
One could judge it either as a self-help tome or as a memoir, I suppose.
As a memoir, it's a story I might have been interested in, but the telling was tedious to me. Like anything, if it was not for you, I am glad for your joy. In this case, my feeling were nowhere near strong enough to even consider arguing over.
As a self-help tome, it was not what I needed personally. The only reason I'm writing this review, however, is because I understand that other people have found help in it, and it has helped them through profound difficulties with enormous personal problems. As such, I'm glad it was there for them.
One could judge it either as a self-help tome or as a memoir, I suppose.
As a memoir, it's a story I might have been interested in, but the telling was tedious to me. Like anything, if it was not for you, I am glad for your joy. In this case, my feeling were nowhere near strong enough to even consider arguing over.
As a self-help tome, it was not what I needed personally. The only reason I'm writing this review, however, is because I understand that other people have found help in it, and it has helped them through profound difficulties with enormous personal problems. As such, I'm glad it was there for them.
snowblu3's review against another edition
1.0
Of all the books I've finished completely, this could quite possibly be the damn worst.
pastaylor's review against another edition
3.0
Let me start with this: if you are looking for an introduction to the dharma or Buddhism, or the twelve steps, or punk rock philosophy, or how to combine all three, this is not that book. It is not meant to be that book. Like it says, it is a memoir, and as the title suggests, it is inspired by Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums, which was also a memoir about a lost young man searching for something more.
Also, this book is not well written. I don't mean that to be a hater, but to be honest. I've seen Noah interviewed and watched videos of him speaking, so I know that he is an intelligent person who is a good public speaker and who has some sound ideas. Not much of that comes across in this book. It is written in the vernacular and from the perspective of a Santa Cruz punk/spiritualist, so is full of words like "bummer" and "funky" and every curse word you could imagine.
There is a frustrating lack of self-reflection in the book, which is surprising given that it is a memoir that is all about his voyage to discover his true self. He's suicidal at 5, getting high at six, and clearly comes from a chaotic home life, but there is zero analysis of that. His dad is a meditation teacher and yet he is a total hot mess for the first twenty years of his life, and there is no analysis of that. Did his broken home life, his mother's mental instability, and her rotating cast of drug-abusing, sometimes violent boyfriends contribute to Noah's rebellion? Probably, but he never draws the lines.
He trades drugs for religion, on an endless, restless quest to find himself in whatever mish-mash of spirituality he can put together. Buddhism? Sure, why not? Hinduism? Sounds cool! Sufisim? yeah, sure, whatever! I get it, but at the same time I was a little put off how he and his friends seemed to swap faiths and deities like they were leather jackets.
His explanation of punk rock also never quite clicked with me - he's angry at society for being fucked up and materialistic and oppressive, but it never seems to go beyond "the squares are all lame!"
Still, I enjoyed the book, mostly because I'm from the area he grew up in, and I was on the outskirts of the scene he was part of. I knew the violent punk kids, and I knew the older surfer gurus. It's an interesting tale of someone trying to find their way out of addiction and redeem themselves, and for that it is worth reading.
Also, this book is not well written. I don't mean that to be a hater, but to be honest. I've seen Noah interviewed and watched videos of him speaking, so I know that he is an intelligent person who is a good public speaker and who has some sound ideas. Not much of that comes across in this book. It is written in the vernacular and from the perspective of a Santa Cruz punk/spiritualist, so is full of words like "bummer" and "funky" and every curse word you could imagine.
There is a frustrating lack of self-reflection in the book, which is surprising given that it is a memoir that is all about his voyage to discover his true self. He's suicidal at 5, getting high at six, and clearly comes from a chaotic home life, but there is zero analysis of that. His dad is a meditation teacher and yet he is a total hot mess for the first twenty years of his life, and there is no analysis of that. Did his broken home life, his mother's mental instability, and her rotating cast of drug-abusing, sometimes violent boyfriends contribute to Noah's rebellion? Probably, but he never draws the lines.
He trades drugs for religion, on an endless, restless quest to find himself in whatever mish-mash of spirituality he can put together. Buddhism? Sure, why not? Hinduism? Sounds cool! Sufisim? yeah, sure, whatever! I get it, but at the same time I was a little put off how he and his friends seemed to swap faiths and deities like they were leather jackets.
His explanation of punk rock also never quite clicked with me - he's angry at society for being fucked up and materialistic and oppressive, but it never seems to go beyond "the squares are all lame!"
Still, I enjoyed the book, mostly because I'm from the area he grew up in, and I was on the outskirts of the scene he was part of. I knew the violent punk kids, and I knew the older surfer gurus. It's an interesting tale of someone trying to find their way out of addiction and redeem themselves, and for that it is worth reading.
rosarachel's review against another edition
3.0
Somewhat disappointing - Levine is a much better speaker than he is writer - but still a valuable contribution to literature of addiction, recovery and spirituality.