An Obese White Gentleman in No Apparent Distress
by Riki Moss, Terry Dobson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Riki Moss, Terry DobsonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-01-20
ISBN: 158394270X
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Blue Snake Books
Book Reviews of An Obese White Gentleman in No Apparent Distress
Book Review: "Dreamus interruptus...Perfect!"
Summary: 5 Stars
"An Obese White Gentleman in No Apparent Distress" is the fictionalized version of Aikido Sensei Terry Dobsons life. It is a life that can only be described as paradoxical; filled with mirth, madnes and of course boundless love. Max (Dobson's fictional doppelganger) proudly wears his flaws like ketchup stains on his heavy white Gi; he drinks too much, takes too many drugs, eats to much red meat, while at the same time teaches conflict resolution via the Aikido principles of love and blending. He poo-poos tradition while at the same time shows a deep reverence for all things historical from both the East and the West. "What saved me was what saves all Martial men: martial men are filled with love". Dobson's undying love for Lena (Moss' doppelganger) drips from these pages.
Dobson's life partner Riki Moss writes with a simple and yet profound style that instantly pulls the reader into the story; her spiritual insights into the life of her man and her own life are inspiring. There is what can only be described as a brutal honesty to this book as Moss shows no compunctions about exposing this man and herself as flawed and so very human. Most of us spend our lives switching masks, only rarely allowing our real image to be revealed and even then only for brief glances before we snap them back into place. Rarely do we take them off and let the world look upon our naked souls. Riki Moss does that in this book with unabashed courage. Bravo.
There are lots of books that are entertaining, but only a few that have the power to turn our perceptions inward; few that encourage us to look at ourselves, warts and all. This is one of those books. A definite must read for anyone not afraid to look at their own diabolical nature to fully see the light that shines within. This is a great book that has the potential to shift the way you see the world.Pick this one up...you won't regret it.
Summary of An Obese White Gentleman in No Apparent Distress
Based on the life of unconventional aikido master Terry Dobson, this novel by his partner Riki Moss is the story of two souls meeting at a mutually calamitous turning point in their lives. Fatherless and pushed by his tyrannical mother to the edge of violence, Dobson turns to aikido to save his life. Twenty-five years later, he returns to the wreckage of his ancestral summer home on Lake Champlain feeling too tainted to train, too blocked to write, and too dispirited to deal with his declining health. He seriously considers disappearing into the icy waters, but instead drives through an ice storm and hits a cow in a cornfield where an artist is chasing her dog . . .Told through two interwoven timelines?one following his life through Park Avenue and the Bowery, Vermont, Japan, and California; the other tracking his relationship with the artist?this profoundly entertaining novel features a memorable assortment of seekers and gurus (real and fictional), spiritual dogs, performance artists, psychic plumbers, New Age healers, suicidal parents, old lovers; Ronald Reagan, Robert Bly, Leonard Cohen, Ram Dass; and the land itself, as compelling as any character.
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