The Other Side of Eden: Life With John Steinbeck by John Steinbeck IV (Author), Nancy Steinbeck  (Author),

a review on Amazon

0 out of 5 starsFascinating

August 21, 2011

This is one gem of a story, in fact, several stories. In flipbook-style, this book by John Steinbeck 1V, the famous author's son, and his wife, Nancy, deftly walks the line between memoir and expose. From growing up in an alcoholic home to growing up as adults inside a cult guru's enlightenment racket, the authors' dual recollections provide a number of deflating revelations, about the famous Steinbeck as well as the famous guru. I found especially interesting the dynamics between the Tibetan lama, Trungpa Rinpoche, and his American students, all brimming with devotion and lacking in personal authority, and the parallel with dysfunctional family systems. Trungpa Rinpoche appears as a drunken, crazy surrogate for the dysfunctional families of the authors. The ploys used to keep the power differential operating in the community of Rinpoche's followers mimic the betrayal and required secrets in the alcoholic family. At the time of the Steinbecks' involvement, the American zeitgeist was ripe with Eastern gurus telling psychologically vulnerable hippies, then yuppies what to do and how to live their lives. To the authors' credit, they eventually wake up to the pretense of waking up and embark on their own journey of deconditioning from familial ghosts and spiritual authoritarianism, but not before they hit bottom multiple times, wounded by alcoholism, codependence, and post-traumatic stress, and suffering the ostracism of their guru-adulating peers. The stories of emotional, physical, and spiritual recovery are compelling enough to maintain the reader's interest and stimulate consciousness. Well worth the read! by John Steinbeck IV (Author), Nancy Steinbeck  (Author), Andrew Harvey (Foreword)