The Storms Can't Hurt the Sky

February 4, 2008
When his wife walks out on him, novelist Cohen (Red Hook) is stunned: "I didn't call out, didn't follow her to the door, I just lay down on the couch... as if I was settling into the coffin of our marriage." How he gets through the subsequent weeks and months provides the focus for this philosophical self-help. Cohen isn't trying to convert anyone, just passing along the key Buddhist principles he gleaned from a few lectures and applied to his own situation. Sound advice and short chapters fill his narrative of recovery, unadorned by bullet-pointed lists, side-bars or "get-enlightened-quick schemes," which should do much to engage readers and keep them that way. Subjects like anger management, self-pity and substance abuse lead Cohen to the heart of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths that promise an end to suffering for anyone: "Our sadness and happiness and anger... come only from within," meaning that control over them can and must also come from within. Encouraging and accessible throughout, Cohen's book will make a useful tool for readers going through a difficult break-up.

March 1, 2008
Novelist Cohen, who also writes for the "New York Times" and "Time Out New York", sensitively explores the link between non-attachment and de-tachment in this sober and thoughtful life manual for Buddhist readers. He makes use not just of Buddhist precepts but also of his own experience and humor to show how conceptualizing the negative emotions that accompany divorce in a less "attached" way can help one deal with it differently.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.