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Sometimes the best solution to a world gone awry is to leave the planet. That’s what begins to call Ollie Finn, a former circus performer with no goals or sense of direction who has been dumped by her girlfriend and kicked out of her house. Ollie is the protagonist of an engaging, delightful novel by Z Egloff, full of humor, love, twists and turns, back-and-forth to an alternate reality called Timini.
I recommend not just the book but the concept of using literature to both escape and create a world that works for everyone. It doesn’t all have to be done by marching or meditating. Sometimes, allowing a brilliant author like Z to take me somewhere else is a perfect way to recalibrate my mind, tune my frequency to a higher possibility.
Egloff’s book, despite being written by a close friend of mine (full disclosure), has everything. (Admission against interest: I’ve found it stressful to read books by close friends. What if I don’t like it? What am I going to say? What’s the reader equivalent of what one friend used to say if she wasn’t wild about another friend’s performance, “you were ON that stage. I certainly saw you up there.”) Also, it was self-published. Which always worries me. What if they just folded their own dirty laundry into a book?
Well, that’s not my experience with Timini — I loved every minute of it. From the (familiar to me) atmosphere of a small liberal arts college to Ollie’s boss, the wildly inappropriate Professor Glick, to the alternate reality of Timini—all of it worked. So funny. So thought-provoking. Ollie, like many of us, has trouble believing the new reality she is being shown or taking the actions she’s been directed to take.
The only downside is that the book is print-only and only available on Amazon. However, if you live in Sacramento and are very nice to me, I’ll lend you my copy.
Read the book and take the note: read books that increase your vision and experience of a world that works for everyone. It’s not just escapism; it also builds and reinforces the vision.
Do me a favor while you’re at it, comment with your favorite utopian or (partially utopian) novels that I don’t list below.
In the meantime, please track and support the venerable Buddhist monks as they march for peace across the country. They plan to arrive in Washington, DC, next Tuesday, February 10, and be there sitting for lovingkindness and peace until Wednesday, February 12, when they depart: https://fb.watch/F4unTrlF9b/
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