"West of Jesus" peals the onion right down to the molecule. Kotler might not surf like Slater, Irons and Fanning but he writes with the authority of Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman, and with the adventure of Jack Kerouac and Earnest Hemingway. Straight up the writing is advanced and fascinating. This is not the pap that we usually encounter when a writer shows up without a clue at the beach. Kotler is a surfer and a professional heavy weight writer. If you want to learn something than you read a book like this because it does more than entertain but enlightens.
I'm not going to give away the story but it has a strong beginning, middle, and end. Concepts that are introduced are mined and explored and than concluded with the finesse of a perfectly landed airial. The ride goes on and advances as does the chapters. This author is exceptionally well read and has strong and compelling material like Jaws has water. A drop of water might seam ordinary and ephemeral and a static commonality but as an inquisitive surfer/writer finds out there is a heritage of belief in the riding of waves. Kotler quotes Rabbi Nachum Shifren, "I don't take anyone seriously who doesn't surf." Likewise we can't take writers of surfing seriously who don't surf. The book is all that with suffering and pain that might be comparable to Adriana de Sousa at El Gringo getting the porcupine treatment from a group of sea urchins or being blind sided by life. The human condition is amazing in what it can do to us and what we as thinking beings can learn in the process of searching for answers. There will be lots of surprises for the average reader and satisfaction for those with more literary mileage. One must be patient and curious to reach the summit of a lofty peak but this is not to imply my journey through the pages was either tedious or boring. On the contrary I spent many entertaining and engaging hours turning the pages. The experience is unifying
Ingmar Bergman said about writing that, "by and large, however, art is free, shameless, irresponsible and, as I said, the movement is intense, almost feverish; it resembles, it seems to me, a snakeskin full of ants. The snake itself is long since dead, eaten out from within, deprived of its poison; but the skin moves, filled with busy life."
As for myself I find that surfing can be that same long silent snake but the skin always keeps twitching as all energy is always dynamic. "West of Jesus" is writing that has become more than art and mystery and science but the glue that holds our universe together. Read this book if you can. Zen is perfection. Self advancement comes by paddling one hand in front of the other and exploring the wildness of waves and words.
Literature is like surfing it takes a while to get past the shore break and get outside where the waves break bigger. "West of Jesus" is overhead perfection on that exceptional and unforgettable day that doesn't come along like a planned election commercial or the snack food isle. It tells a good story. Those who seek knowledge will find it and embrace it and understand.
One of the revelations is where Steven Kotler comes from.
