Product Description
The story unveils as Jake, the main character, experiences the world for the first time in his adult life soberly. As an addict entering rehab, the raw emotions and relationships he engages in are initially turbulent. Slowly, we see Jake come out of his philosophical shell, only to meet the apathetic world. Overcoming mistakes and obstacles from his past, as well as newly arising ones, are a daily challenge for Jake. He experiences, in many respects, what we all experience—the joys and sorrows of life, only magnified to the utmost intensity. For Jake, it is through the lens of a struggling twenty-one-year-old heroin addict, whose hatred of the world is calmed through the temperament of other compassionate characters and a serene beachside setting. His struggles as an addict become our struggles as readers, as his powerfully illuminated character reveals the light into a shadowy world.
Although Henry James thought that the artistic imagination was primary, experience in the field sometimes provides, especially in an area unfamiliar to many and inherently complex from a medical and psychological perspective, a basis even more valuable than imagination alone. East of Paradise, West of Ego is just such an example. Mark Walliser’s professional work in this field provides the basis for a degree of clarity and accuracy probably impossible for the imagination alone, resulting in a much more satisfying depiction and appreciation of the entire process of rehabilitation. Much of the subject matter of this novel will be unfamiliar to the average reader and that is why a sure grasp of the context is so important. East of Paradise, West of Ego takes the reader through a strange but important world and does it with a sure grasp not only of the technical dimensions of the sufferings of its protagonist, Jake, but also with considerable narrative skill, moving through a hellish world that nevertheless provides the perfect context for realization and later resurrection. This novel ultimately is a comedy, not a tragedy because the result is positive, not ultimately fatal. It is a passage through a hell into what will be perhaps not be paradise ultimately, but rather a reconnection with a life that can be sustained and nurtured and which will serve as the basis for a future of possibilities. Anyone interested in addiction and rehabilitation will learn much from an author with a sound grounding in this painful, but nevertheless important world.
Rating: 5 / 5