Lunch with Buddha

Lunch with Buddha

On the surface, LUNCH WITH BUDDHA is a story about family. Otto Ringling and his sister Cecelia could not be more different. He’s just turned 50, an editor of food books at a prestigious New York publishing house, a man with a nice home in the suburbs, children he adores, and a sense of himself as being a mainstream, upper-middle-class American. Cecelia is the last thing from mainstream. For two decades she’s made a living reading palms and performing past-life regressions. She believes firmly in our ability to communicate with those who have passed on. It will turn out, though, that they have more in common than just their North Dakota roots.In LUNCH WITH BUDDHA, when Otto faces what might be the greatest of life’s difficulties, it is Cecelia who knows how to help him. As she did years earlier in this book’s predecessor, BREAKFAST WITH BUDDHA, she arranges for her brother to travel with Volya Rinpoche, a famous spiritual teacher — who now also happens to be her husband. After early chapters in which the family gathers for an important event, the novel portrays a road trip made by Otto and Rinpoche, in a rattling pickup, from Seattle to the family farm in North Dakota. Along the way the brothers-in-law have a series of experiences — some hilarious, some poignant — all aimed at bringing Otto a deeper peace of mind. They visit American landmarks; they have a variety of meals, both excellent and awful; they meet a cast of minor characters, each of whom enables Rinpoche to impart some new spiritual lesson. Their conversations range from questions about life and death to talk of history, marijuana, child-rearing, sexuality, Native Americans, and outdoor swimming. In the end, with the help of their miraculous daughter, Shelsa, and the prodding of Otto’s own almost-adult children, Rinpoche and Cecelia push this decent, middle-of-the-road American into a more profound understanding of the purpose of his life. His sense of the line between possible and impossible is altered, and the story’s ending points him toward a very different way of being in this world. "In this engaging follow-up novel. . .Merullo offers readers a hero that's a bit jaded but loving; a little lost but searching. One can't help but root for Otto . . .and hope that he finds the inner peace that, even if he doesn't quite know it, he desperately seeks. . . . a beautifully written and compelling story about a man's search for meaning that earnestly and accessibly tackles some well-trodden but universal questions. A quiet meditation on life, death, darkness and spirituality, sprinkled with humor, tenderness and stunning landscapes." - Kirkus Starred Review "alternately hilarious and poignant...Merullo's detailed descriptions of the American Northwest keep the writing grounded even as its themes turn increasingly spiritual. Merullo doesn't try too hard to prove any spiritual points, however. As a result, Lunch is a moving yet entertaining and never histrionic account of how an ordinary American family--with a few extraordinary members in its ranks--deals with the overwhelming grief of losing one of their own." Tricycle: The Buddhist Review "LUNCH WITH BUDDHA examines questions that crop up sooner or later for many (most?) of us. Although Volya's wise lectures are helpful to Otto's search for answers, it is the variety of people they meet-and the attitudes [they] carry-that are what provide Otto with the evidence and reminders and motivation to decide to live a certain way....Reading Merullo's novel, I couldn't help but think of Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman-their great reverence for independent, passionate, non-conformist thought-the different drummer-but never without the accompanying respect for it in others." -The Salem News "As we move through life, we search for the little explanations of life and living and making it all come together for us. Lunch with Buddha is a spiritual novel from Roland Merullo that tells the story of Otto Ringling, a man trying to understand the many lessons of his teacher Volya Rinpoche and the constantly shifting view of his complicated life. Lunch with Buddha will ring true with many readers. Highly recommended." -Midwest Book Review "I'm fascinated...with the way people deal with difficulty, hardship, pain, disappointment, tragedy and life's seeming inequities. And...how people deal with the spiritual search, in the face of life's hardships... Some people indulge their pain and pass it on. Some fight it to a draw. And some transcend. My goal - reflected in many of my characters - is to transcend. I'm not there yet." A DISCUSSION OF LUNCH WITH BUDDHA (Abridged version of a conversation between authors Roland Merullo & Matthew Quick that is included with the novel.) Matthew Quick: We've known each other for 5 or so years, during which we've discussed writing, publishing, spirituality, and life in general. Your fiction often explores the questions and concerns that are most important to you.