 An exciting adventure! |
| Review Date: November 14, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Christa Joyce, Shepherdstown, WV |
Instant Karma, The Heart and Soul of a Ski Bum, Wayne Sheldrake. Ghost Road Press. Book Review by, Christa Mastrangelo Joyce
Few people have discovered how to live with the kind of reckless abandon that allows them to pursue life while looking death square in the eye. This is exactly the journey that Wayne Sheldrake reveals in his memoir, Instant Karma, The Heart and Soul of a Ski Bum. Sheldrake admits, "I was a little confused when I passed my twenty-fifth birthday. I never thought I'd live beyond twenty-four. I assumed my stunts would catch up with me, or my heart would just quit. But I was happy because I knew how I wanted to live and if I died in the process, so be it." The memoir follows this notion through Sheldrake's forty-odd years of life, unfolding into a poetic exploration of skiing and the revelation that daring is always worth the pursuit.
Instant Karma has plenty to get excited about. The descriptions of mountains covered with snow in the heart of the Rockies, the landscapes of quiet white, and the visceral images of a man bound to soar downward through that whiteness, soar over those mountains, is just one part of the picture Sheldrake paints. He writes, "The light was moon-faced. The chairlift rose through a hall of spruce loaded to their armpits with snow...dense clouds dipped into the trees...the mountain vibrated. The trees unswaddled cradles of snow. Sugar sacks lumped down on flour sacks which lumped down on potato sacks which lumped down on onion sacks which lumped down on cotton sacks, until like futons tumbling from the sky, the foundered Qali found snow pack." Throughout the book, Sheldrake leads his reader through a magical world seen by so few--a mountain in full blizzard in Colorado. The snow he describes is a force, the mountains are legendary. And in the middle of it all, Sheldrake makes his presence known. No snow storm, no mountain is too much. For Sheldrake, it becomes clear, to ski is to live and to live means to give up any timidity he might have. Sheldrake writes, "To almost die and then live--it's wild. Surviving terror can lead to a kind of joy that makes the traumas of `real life' seem less intimidating....some people have to get close to death to really figure life out--really close." Sheldrake is definitely one of those "really close" kind of guys.
The book, though, isn't just a look at a crazy guy who likes to live on the wild side of skiing. Instant Karma will make you look into your heart and soul and think about what you are willing to do to live your dream. It is an adventure into the soul of a man who is
reckless enough to do as he dares against the advice of family, friends and doctors; it is also a love story about a man who follows his own guidance and finds himself a partner who believes just as fully that living with passion must be the goal in life. And it is a portrait of memory, something that is distilled and changing and somewhat illusory, but also the only thing we have left in the end. Sheldrake writes, "I wanted to ski exactly the same run, relive it if I could...It might be delightful, joyous--even orgasmic--but never the same. It makes skiing as sad as jazz. All improvised and all lost in the midst of its own becoming. Every moment hangs in memory, the phenomenology forever internal and terminal. When the memory goes, it's gone. You can never go back--not exactly." And so, Instant Karma is a movement through that phenomenology, making the internal, external, capturing the fleeting memory so that Sheldrake could bring us his understanding of life and skiing. In the end, he gives us what we all would like to pass on--a good story about a full life.
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instant comic: i laughed until it hurt
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| Review Date: October 2, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Dean Hubbard, Westport, CT, USA |
| This is the funniest and wisest book I've read in a very long time. Even if you're not a skier, you'll find the memoir both laugh out loud funny and full of surprisingly inspirational stories. The courage with which the author has faced and overcome incredible adversity and the sense of humor he brings to the telling of it ought to fill even the most dedicated flatlander with admiration and respect. And if you're a skier, oh my God, you're going to die. Sheldrake's Gonzo-esque escapades, such as floating through powder so deep he was buried, skiing down Colorado's Great Sand Dunes, and being banned from a certain ski area for life by "parking lot Nazis," would have been enough to make me throw the book down and head directly for the slopes if I hadn't been laughing too hard to move. (The fact there was no snow yet might have proved something of an impediment as well.) But the most powerful parts of the book, such as the blossoming of the relationship that allowed Sheldrake to love again after an abusive childhood, strike a universal chord. "Instant Karma" reminds me of a much funnier version of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." You didn't need to be a biker to enjoy that wise book, and you don't need to ski to love this one. |
Poetically descriptive
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| Review Date: November 6, 2007 |
| Reviewer: M. C. Daugherty, Boulder, CO |
I enjoyed this book so much. As a snowboarder, I naturally have a distain for skiers, but don't let that turn you away from this book! Even a snowboarder can have extreme respect for the way this ski bum shreds. In fact, reading this book, though be it about skiing, can make you a better snowboarder.....or skier. I'll bet that Sheldrake's medical records have more depth than distance between your hips and the top of your pants. I have never been able to put a palpable image to the orgasmic feel of fresh powder, but the way that Sheldrake describes in detail how dipping in to a fresh turn of powder feels, makes me scream for the upcoming winter.
I would suggest this book to ANYONE. Not only does Sheldrake speak of valuable life lessons and experience, but can take skiing and transfer all of the aspects of life to the mountain. This book is perfect for understanding the adrenaline seeking lifestyle and soul of the wild at heart.
It's definitely a MUST read!!! |
A million miles from wolf creek
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| Review Date: November 15, 2007 |
| Reviewer: L. Goode, |
| If you have ever stepped into a pair of skis or even if you haven't had the pleasure of having this life changing experience of doing so you will want to read this book. It is a terrific read and brought back so many great memories of skiing almost everyday all winter long until your feet were sore from wearing ski boots, and then after two weeks after the ski areas closed you just couldn't stand it anymore so you hiked the tallest mountains you could find in the san juans of colorado just to make that one last run before the winter snow melted. Do yourself a favor and buy the book.......... "old ski bum" from homer alaska |
AN "INSTANT" CLASSIC
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| Review Date: November 29, 2007 |
| Reviewer: R. S. Lamb, |
| Wayne's history as a poet and wordsmith serves him well as he weaves this amazing adventure tale of his personal journey of the heart and soul. Chock full of descriptive passages: dirtbag chic, near death experiences and winter storms in the Southern San Juans that had me shivering in my slippers! And then....between the lines and pages there is Vreni and the heartwarming love story that exposes our Mr. Sheldrake for the hopeless romantic that he is, binds first his wounds and then the yarn itself into a fascinating whole. |
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US $38.12
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