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    The Book of Why: A Novel
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    The Book of Why: A Novel
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    The Book of Why: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Book of Why: A Novel

    Written by Nicholas Montemarano

    Narrated by Brian Troxell

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    "This is a haunting and extraordinary book." -- Julie Orringer, author of The Invisible Bridge

    Self-help writer Eric Newborn's motivational books have spawned a legion of devoted followers who swear that his ideas have pulled their lives from the brink. But after Eric can't save his own wife from dying, he finds himself at a loss -- the power of positive thinking is simply not enough to overcome his grief. Retreating to the home he and his wife shared on Martha's Vineyard, Eric, with his dog as his closest companion, attempts to distance himself from the teachings he has come to hate.

    But when a woman named Sam shows up at his door one night five years later, Eric must finally confront his heartache and reconcile his worldview with the pain he has suffered.

    At once a powerful love story, a stirring portrait of a soul laid bare by grief, and a celebration of coincidence, connection, and the belief that true love never dies, The Book of Why explores the deep powers of the heart and mind to shape the world around us, blurring the lines between loss and love, fate and free will, despair and joy.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateJan 22, 2013
    ISBN9781478924296
    Unavailable
    The Book of Why: A Novel

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    Reviews for The Book of Why

    3.5/5

    13 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Eric Newborn is a disillusioned self-help writer and widower living alone with his female German Shepherd named Ralph. "I didn't know, when I thought I knew it all, that I would join the chorus of askers," he says at one point in the book. Sam Leslie who comes looking for him is one of those askers. Her arrival and their subsequent adventure are the catalyst for Eric to finally tackle writing the book that he has promised the lady in the yellow dress he would write ages ago, The Book of Why.Interspersed in the book are sections of his previous self help texts and talks. He spoke strongly about the law of attraction among other things: what you put out into the universe is what you get back. And this is one of the things that the other askers puzzle over so hard. Why is it that someone who does good and puts out good or is innocent as is a young baby can still have something bad happen to them? (Don't read it looking for a definitive answer to Why.)Also throughout the book there are pieces of his life from when he is young through his marriage with Cary that help to explain first his belief system and then the disillusionment with it.The book is beautifully written. It will linger on your mind afterwards.
    • 4/5
      This novel about the Law of Attraction, as espoused by Esther and Jerry Hicks, Wayne Dyer and so many others, asks the question whether we really can control what happens to us in life or whether there is a degree of destiny that we cannot avoid.The hero of the story, Eric Newborn, is an expert on the Law of Attraction. Throughout his life he has been able to attract exactly what he wants, and he has written many books on the subject and talked to many audiences all over the world.His ability to shape events seems to lose its power, however, after his wife Cary dies of cancer. We meet him at this point in his life. He has gone into seclusion having lost his faith in the Law of Attraction, but one of his readers, a woman named Sam, is bound and determined to seek him out. After experiencing a car “accident” together, they go on an odyssey in which he is made to confront certain painful, yet hopeful, realities.The story starts in the present, but it bounces around into various phases of Eric’s life in the past. At first it is hard to figure out what is happening, but if we are patient with a degree of confusion, the story gradually comes into focus. The ending was a bit long and drawn out, as if the author wasn’t quite sure when to stop, but in a way, you don’t want the story to stop. Life goes on.
    • 3/5
      In A NutshellThe Book of Why is one of those rare books that is exactly what it claims to be: It's a book of questions... But with very few answers.The Whole Enchilada"This is a self-help book. Didn't think it was, but it is. It's also a revision, a question, a confession, an apology, a love letter."This is how The Book of Why by Nicholas Montemarano begins. But don't let that beginning fool you; this is a book that asks more questions than it answers. Our narrator and main character Eric Newborn is a successful author and "your thoughts create your own reality" self-help guru who, after the death of his wife, has gone off his own philosophy. At least this is what he claims on the outside. On the inside, Eric is still afraid to think negative thoughts for fear that they might manifest, still afraid that his wife killed herself with her own lack of belief, or worse yet, that Eric himself killed her because he wasn't strong enough (or didn't want enough) to will her back to health with the power of his positive thinking.When the book begins Eric Newborn has sequestered himself—alone except for the dog—his doubts and his memories, in his house in Martha's Vineyard. When a young fan stumbles "accidentally" upon his house in the middle of winter, Eric (reluctantly at first) begins to open up to her. The two become each other's teachers and confidants, and embark on a journey (both real and metaphorical) that forces each of them to look at their pasts, face their futures, and ask the question Are there really any accidents? The Book of Why tells a compelling story, but it is not always an easy book to read. The narrative is split into three separate time periods: Eric's childhood, his time with his wife, and his present. The book jumps back and forth between these three storylines, with the effect that just when you've become invested in one storyline you're yanked out of it and thrown into another. It was an interesting way of expressing that the things that happen in our past can follow us, and have a direct influence on events in our future, but the narrative technique could be very frustrating at times.Montemarano also makes periodic use in his story of what I call "aside sections." These are sections at the beginning of certain chapters which are supposed transcripts of motivational speeches given by Eric Newborn, or portions of his self-help books. This first "aside section" at the beginning of the book served the purpose of giving the reader an inside look into the world of self-help conferences and motivational speaking tours. It was a perfect way to set the stage to be abruptly torn down a few pages later by the present Eric's sadness and cynicism. The contrast was delightful, and catapults the reader very effectively into the story. This is not the only "aside section" however, and this catapult-by-contrast technique isn't something that can be utilized effectively more than once. I’m sure that all the subsequent "aside sections" were relevant to those sections of the books they preceded, but all too often I found them to be distracting, pulling me out of the story just when I was beginning to feel enraptured.These are minor complaints, however, and in spite of these, The Book of Why is a very compelling read; not only because the reader can’t help wanting to know how Eric's story ends, but because the questions Montemarano raises are the questions that are always lurking at the very edges of our conscious minds. Do things happen for a reason? How much control do we have over the course of our lives? Can miracles truly happen, or is the self-help-positive-thinking culture nothing but modern-day charlatanry? The Book of Why does not answer any of these questions, but the context in which it asks them is interesting, insightful, and brutally honest.
    • 2/5
      2.0 stars – Below AverageEric Newborn has turned around millions of lives with his bestselling self-help books. That is until he loses his wife to cancer and he abruptly stops believing in his own advice. Eric disavows his past teachings and lives as a recluse in Martha’s Vineyard. But when a determined fan tracks him down, he is forced to relive his past memories and contemplate his next book, The Book of Why.Nicholas Montemarano’s novel, The Book of Why, actually begins as a self-help book. In fact, I had to double-check that the early review copy I had received was the correct book. It turns out that Montemarano interweaves Eric Newborn’s first person narration between quotes from his fictional books, speeches he gave and conversations from his past. Early on, this works effectively to paint the backstory of the optimistic Eric in contrast to the raw pessimism of his older self. It is the destruction of an idealist who thought he had the power to control the world around him with his beliefs, only to find out that the most important thing in his life could not be saved. Unfortunately, The Book of Why fails to advance beyond that point. The primary story arch simply ends in the second half of the book amid colliding memories and never gets picked back up. What began as the documentation of a man’s journey – either towards redemption or destruction – simply ends up going no place. In all honesty, there is no discernible plotline to this story. While the premise held real promise, the book devolves into scattered thoughts and ideas with no real connection and no destination. The Book of Why may have some emotion and artistic depth, but it fails to deliver on its early promise of a story. What we get instead feels unfinished and unedited. At times Montemarano demonstrated beautiful writing, but it is sadly not a readable work of fiction and did not take me anywhere.