Customer Reviews

Boomeritis: A Novel That Will Set You Free!

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

At least thirty percent of the population will probably not like this book, yet it may turn out to be a great example of the Perfect Postmodern Novel. If the three editorial reviews of "Boomeritis" I've seen are any indication, many readers will not understand Wilber's intent in writing this book. It's so sad when you see people get whacked between the eyes with a Stick Of Compassion and yet they don't even know they've been whacked.

You'll soon see why I give this book 5 stars, but this is what you can expect to find in Boomeritis (as I shamelessly rip concepts and phrases from the book - I doubt Ken would mind. He might even find it humorous):

1) This book is sharply critical of many of society's closely held ideals and ideas, and many sacred cows are viciously gored. Too, it isn't soothing that the author comes across as polemical and pathetically narcissistic.

2) As written, there seems to be no difference between fact and fiction. Did this really happen? Does this character really exist, or not? At least one character, in fact, has a real-life counterpart of the same name and job description, but others seem to be an amalgam of various personalities both real and fictional. And many so-called facts are truly questionable.

3) Some of the main characters have been portrayed with shady, shallow, and reprehensible backgrounds. A certain segment of the readership will probably find the demographic distribution of these characters to be expected and fitting, others will find it curiously unnerving.

4) It's boring! The writing is incredibly flat. It often seems to be all Theory, a stream of verbal vomit, with no flowing prose or colorful descriptions of surroundings, people, or places. If it weren't for the X-rated fantasy scenes interjected every ten minutes, would the book even hold our interest?

5) There seems to be no great, highbrow writing here, as we're accustomed to seeing from `old' Ken Wilber. The text is simply an ad hoc mixture of fleeting images and scenes, largely drawing on elements of pop culture and the quintessential hooks of sex, drugs and rock `n roll.

6) The characters are flat and two-dimensional. No depth, only surfaces. `Character development' would be an oxymoron in "Boomeritis."

7) The book is written with an attitude of cranky criticism. What is positive in the book has been ripped off from other people, including Wilber's own past work.

And all of that, Dear Souls, is exactly why this book is so darned wonderful!

Readers who are not at all aware of Wilber's intent will find the book to be most objectionable. (Let's hope!) Some readers might consider it to be nothing more than convoluted spew. (Well, yes, it is.) Others who are more familiar with Wilber's previous works will consider this to be a further reduction by a pandit who claims to shun reductionism, a lame attempt to boil his message down into a form suitable for mass marketing, a sell-out, nothing more than a continuation of the thinning down that was last seen in steps from "Sex, Ecology, Spirituality" to "A Brief History of Everything" to "A Theory Of Everything." (Okay, that's true, of course.)

If or when you feel this way, open your copy to page 324. Read the next few pages very carefully. Now, stop and realize: The book is INTENDED to be all of this and more!! (Or shall I say "less"?) This book is a deliberate poke in the ribs with a sharp stick. He even TELLS you this right in the text. Why does this escape some people? Gosh, it's about as subtle as, well, a sharp stick in the ribs.

I fear that many won't see the beauty of "Boomeritis." The cunning humor, irony, layered mind-play, inside jokes, fact, fiction and fantasy that were cleverly crafted into this intentionally vitriolic indictment of our society's greatest problem will go unnoticed as some engage in reflexive, knee-jerk reactions when confronted with their own behavior. Indeed, the more you react to this book in a negative fashion, the more you need to pay attention to exactly what it is that bothers you about it. Only truthful introspection will tell you, then, that Wilber has twanged a nerve for our betterment.

This is not a self-absorbed romp for Wilber; his intention is clear and pointed when you understand what he's doing. Through his latest work, he has attempted to make his message known to more people, primarily those not familiar with his previous work, in terms and language that they might absorb, understand, and integrate into their lives. Sadly, the fact that he's had to resort to this format says a lot more about the audience than it does about the author.

At the very least, Wilber has tried to reformat his message and, Spirit willing, he'll continue to try. If he can help just a fractional percentage of "Boomeritis" readers to move along on their path, then his efforts will not have been in vain. For those who 'get it', this book is a reaffirmation of what we have already experienced in the behaviors we've witnessed, in our own path, and in the unlimited potential of humanity unfettered by self-absorbtion. In the end, the book is every bit as touching and inspirational as we might expect from Ken Wilber, and his message remains the same. Only the format has changed, as he jumps up and down on the wire a bit more vigorously than before.

Wilber is a strange character. He's unbelievably smart and unbelievably well-read. He's also unbelievably goofy, so reading him is often like meeting up with a version of the owner of Garfield the Cat with a 300 IQ.
This book tracks the attendance of a 20-something young man (with a 300 IQ and a hopelessly goofy personality) named Ken Wilber at a series of lectures at something called the Integral Center. He is a student at MIT and working on some sort of artificial intelligence project with the idea that silicon can develop the consciousness that flesh has now and evolve much more quickly and that the two consciousnesses might someday merge (as in Kurzweil's Age of Spiritual Machines) -- of course there's an alternative, sinister possibility (as in Dan Simmons's Hyperion books) but neither of these possibilities is really explored (Wilber ultimately arrives at a new understanding of the flesh and silicon evolutionary processes). The real point of the book is a kind of exposition of Wilber's version of Don Beck's spiral dynamics theory of human development.
We get this fed to us through a series of lectures by a series of cardboard characters distinguished by superficial qualities (skin color, sexuality, eye color) but who all speak the same wooden dialogue. These monologues are punctuated by character Wilber's erotic imaginings which arrive with the mindless frequency and communicative vacancy of a series of obscene phone calls. In between the lectures, Wilber meets with his peers who exchange would-be witty put-downs and eat meals. There are hints of sub-sub-sub plots - this one doesn't get along with that one, that one is jealous for some reason of another one, but nothing that advances any action or seems to mean anything in the big picture of the book.
In short, if you want to read a novel - whether it is a story of an unhappy middle aged person who lives in a city or a more traditional one about people who grow in relationship to one another or even a novel intended to be a tour through a particular time or space - this is not going to do it for you. There aren't any characters here, no development, no deep looks into time or space. It's like having a "conversation" with an only child of doting parents who can't stop talking about himself and can't imagine any other subject worth a moment's attention.
And yet... The ideas really are compelling and seem sound. The Beck/Wilber division of human consciousness into a series of stages ranging from the barely self-aware to the transcendently conscious seems exactly right as does the searing indictment of the narcissism and intolerance of our prevailing middle brow culture, the legacy of the 1960s that has all but destroyed everything that it can paint with the label of elitism - classical music, traditional literature, high art, history as a study of humanity's attempt to overcome limitations, etc. If you can read past the goofiness, stilted dialogue, and absent characterization, you will find a powerful set of ideas and a compelling explanation of why our society is in such an intellectual muddle and how we can find our way out.
Of course you will have to read past more than goofiness. As can happen in Ken Wilber books, there are some solecisms. Thus we get to read about building bridges where others dug "motes" ("moats" was probably intended) and we have one of the stick figures tell us that DNA testing showing that 40% of the convicted rapists didn't do it means that the women who brought charges weren't really raped and were claiming spurious victimhood even though the real meaning of this number is only that the wrong perpetrators were identified, not that the rapes never happened. It will doubtless console the women who have been raped and who have identified the wrong perpetrators to know that in Wilber's view, the rape never happened.
And Wilber has bought into tort reform propaganda, that subset of urban legends created by insurance companies and corporations who would rather hold onto money than pay it to those that they and their insureds have injured, so that in his view the tort system is really about fakers who have claimed that they lost their psychic powers in car accidents, etc. not seriously injured people forced into lawsuits because they have no other way to deal with the problems created for them by the carelessness of others. My experience in this regard is different from his but we all have to judge things the best way we can.
With all this silliness, is this a book worth reading? Emphatically yes. It does two things supremely well. It exposes the shallow and deadly narcissism of the baby boom generation and the horrible damage it has done to our academic, cultural, and political structures. It also lays out a powerful and coherent framework of human cultural and individual development.
A novel of ideas can be better done than this one as Ayn Rand, among others, showed, but ultimately it is the ideas, not the novel that will compel the attention of readers. This is a seriously flawed novel but has ideas (although not all of them) that we ignore at our peril. If we are not to perish as a society under the kudzu of boomer narcissism and anti-intellectualism we need to become aware of the subtle and pervasive danger that boomer mentality poses to our society. Nobody has presented this better than Wilber does here and so this book, for all of its many and egregious faults, must be read and taken seriously. And, truth be told, it's an easy and compelling read for all its silliness. If only Wilber had spent a little more time and attention on it...
Although the book says that it has footnotes on a web site, they weren't there when I checked, although there were some interesting "sidebars" in which "characters" from the novel pontificated on matters that they didn't get to in the novel itself.

What will realize god-consciousness first- Carbon or Silicon?

In Boomeritis, Ken Wilber's first novel, and probably his most avant-garde project yet (which is saying quite a bit), the philosopher-sage from Colorado jumps into the pop spirituality marketplace with a book that pokes fun at the New Age movement, takes a flamethrower to the sacred cows of what Spiral Dynamics refers to as the "mean green meme", and has enough raunchy sex fantasies to make Robert Anton Wilson blush. This ain't James Redfield or Deepak Chopra, not by a long shot.

"Boomeritis" is the "Great Postmodern Novel". It's about nothing but theory, filled with two-dimensional characters and silly, cruel dialogue, constantly self-references, interrupts all meaningful thoughts with lewdness, reduces all meaning to surface features and irony- and this is precisely what makes this novel so brilliant. In writing such a novel, Wilber shows his reader precisely what is wrong with "flatland" by subtly [pulling] the reader into his worldview, and then bludgeoning the reader with the realization that he's been had- that the shallowness of the novel and the endless gags are nothing but a ploy and a put on by a literary zen master in an attempt to beat the reader into awakening. It's a turnabout that will catch the reader unprepared, even if he thinks he's prepared for it. Wilber's deviousness and tongue-in-cheek humor, though evident in his scholarly works as well, are out in full force here.

But "Boomeritis" is more than just an extremely long koan. It's a musing on consiciousness, artificial intelligence, and meaning. It has a wonderful segment in which Wilber relates true stories from his friend, the musician Stuart Davis, who is featured as a prominent character in the story. Best of all, the ending is an absolute blast.

Pick up Boomeritis, for Wilber tells the truth, if in a somewhat roundabout way- this novel will set you free.

As I read the opening of this twisted tale ["I am the bastard child of two deeply confused parents, one of whom I am ashamed of, the other of whom is ashamed of me. None of us are on speaking terms, for which we are all grateful. (These things bother you, every now and then.)"], I had the distinct sense that I was on the initial incline of a breathtaking roller-coaster (chunk, chunk, chunk). I was not disappointed.

WARNING: This ride is not for everyone!

It is a terrible novel, yes, and full of awful ideas...in the sense that the book simply won't behave and it takes you places that you may not want to go. This book offends and irritates and soothes...it slaps your [rear] while it holds your hand and fills your head with all manner of difficulty. When it's not doing that, it's busy warping the boundaries between what's real and what's imagined. Oh, yes, there's also distracting sexual imagery and escapes into non-ordinary states that interrupt the flow of the story. (How irritating and what poor form!) In between, it provides yet another view of Ken's overwhelming synthesis and blasphemy, arrogance and sheer joy in a vehicle that provokes as much it transports.

I understand the editorial critiques that say this is just one more look at Ken's philosophy, but that's a bit like saying "oh...another look at the Louvre. Haven't we seen that already?" However, every time I am exposed to this vast body of thought and spirit and heart, I learn. So don't read this solely to be entertained...although that's likely to happen. Don't look for character development -- that is, not in the characters in the book -- it seems to happen instead to the people who read the book.

So be forewarned. I have a friend who is a former pro ball player, a cognitive psychologist and a seeker. His one sentence review, after eating the book whole, was "I loved every minute of it...but it was really painful."

That's why you should read it.

Having read all of Wilber's books, I often wonderd which would be the best introdution, the best to give to a skeptical professor or cynical freind, the book to spark a real interest. This book is it. As a daring, accurate, and sophisticated exposure of the narcissim which pervades our culture, Boomeritis is a demanding read. Philosophicaly dense, the book delves into the implications outlined in many of his other books. He outlines the cutting edge psychological model called Spiral Dynamics, and using this developmental framework he examines everything from post-modernism to UFO abductions, from 60's counter cuture to gender roles to artificial intelligence. And yet it's a novel, and it's witty and hilarious. The book unfolds as a series of lectures attended by some very cynical and always amusing gen Xers. But as the story moves along irony slowly gives way to a more serious look at the state of the world. Ultimately, however, it is an invitation to awaken not only to the meaning and depth in the world which unfolds around us, but to the very single Self which stares out through all our various eyes. Ken Wilber has released a bomb of integrity, a land mine of meaning into our culture, and disguised it as the perfect post-modern novel. Be careful, the blast may leave you naked and alone, but it may take you from that alone to the Alone.

If you can plow your way entirely through this book you will be duly rewarded.

For even as an avid fan of Ken Wilber I seriously questioned what in the world he was doing. As it turns out Wilber has taken the fearless, calculated risk of actually BECOMING that which he is criticizing - extreme postmodernism and the dreary, meaningless, lifeless world which our minds have all been living in; by any other name "flatland."

So if you find the characters flat and two dimensional that is exactly his point, and you will be all the much better for realizing it. If you find the narrative stilted, stifled, even weird and confusing, that is exactly his point (among many others) but it will all make extremely meaningful sense in the end. Brilliantly, he has created a novel, which actually uses the reader's reaction to drive home the biting reality of his Spiritual/philosphical message; and also the point that your spirit IS seeking for things to be otherwise. This is Wilber's genius and this reviewer has no qualms about gushing over it.

But aside from and within the style "Boomeritis" does a complete psycho-spiritual analysis on the entire collective psyche of our day, bringing about a brutal awakening if the reader is so inclined. Personally, I found myself punched in the face so many times my genuinely thankful head is still spinning -and I thought I had a clear handle on things! It is always refreshing to have somebody point out and dispel the demons whether they be political, psychological, technological, spiritual, emotional or otherwise.

Only a true master/spiritual visionary could do this, AND do this with a novel. Many people will not "get it" but Wilber is just that, and "Boomeritis" IS a novel that WILL set you free.

I understand the sharp critiques of Mr. Wilber's literary skill. However, given the universal high speed learning curve upon which the unsuspecting reader is placed, it proves to be a gift beyond measure. This book is worth the ride and the effort it takes to read. The open minded and open hearted reader will be richly rewarded. Those opening this book loaded down with the weight of expectation of what an entertaining read looks like will be greatly disappointed. Allow your most deeply held sacred cows to be challenged. Yes, it feels like tightwire walking on a gusty day without a net. Let these dearly held constructs fall, even if only for the duration of reading the book. All that's risked is profound spaciousness of being and ever broadening boundaries of the heart.

Boulder philosopher, Ken Wilber, has proven once again that he is the smartest man on the planet. In BOOMERITIS, he reformats the integral theories of A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYTHING and A THEORY OF EVERYTHING (two books that summarize much of his work) as fiction. (Readers new to Wilber probably just won't get this novel.) According to Wilber, human consciousness is evolving into three "tiers," with less than 2 percent of the population at second-tier, integral thinking. While the Boomer generation advanced civil rights, ecological concerns, feminism, and multicultural diversity, Wilber observes, the Boomers also suffer from emotional narcissism, or "boomeritis," the final barrier preventing them from leaping from first-tier to second-tier thinking.

However, set in a series of Integral Center seminars, Wilber's thin-on-plot, but deep-in-thought novel offers some "encouraging signs" that "boomeritis is on its way out." As the Boomers enter the second half of life, their "secret weapon" (p. 414), about twenty to twenty-five percent of the American population is poised to "wake up, to really, really wake up" (p. 456) by leaping to the second tier consciousness--about 40 to 50 million Americans, mostly Boomers (pp. 395-6). Wilber's two-dimensional characters ponder the question, can we have a more integral, caring, encompassing world, a world truly at peace? The answer BOOMERITIS offers is yes (p. 38). "Once you get out of flatland," Wilber writes, "the possibilities are endless" (p. 377).

BOOMERITIS is more than just philosophy thinly disguised as fiction. Because the first-person narrator of Wilber's novel is a 20-year-old MIT graduate student "wise beyond this lifetime" (p. 7) (also named "Ken Wilber"), readers will also encounter explicit sexual fantasies about once every ten minutes throughout the 456-page novel.

G. Merritt

Ok, here it goes.
Everybodies favorite theoretical syncretist has done it again. Another tome!

If you are a diehard Wilberian you'll eat it up. Lots of theoretical speculations with lots of transpersonal wording.

If you are new to Wilber check out The Marriage of Sense and Soul, or The Brief History of Everything. In this work Wilber throws so much new concepts, labels, categories,etc. He makes Foucault read like Cliff Notes. In short this is not a book you read but study. Earth calling Ken.

Now to the observations.

- The characters are as others said carboard cutouts. They basically serve to voice Ken's thoughts. Otherwise they are terrible, in real life nobody sane would talk like this as you'd drive people away be sheer boorishness or get pummeled.

Nor is there a coherent narrative of any sort. The characters are props and no real plot. It reads like a rush job.

- The Boomers have written about at length by others. All Ken is doing is mapping out their flaws to his theoretical system. For all their flaws the Boomers are easy pickings. They are the end product of society driven by consumerism and materialism. Although they seek out spiritual paths they end up corrupting them because they refuse adopt themselves to it. So they turn it a anemic joke. Look at Buddhism in the U.S. or what they did to Yoga or Sufism. Also they become prey to every fake guru around like Osho or Adi Da who fleece them like sheep since they never developed any ability discern the real ones from the fakes.
Heck most of Ken's friends fit the boomer/newagers profile if you read One Taste. He could have written from first hand experience.

Bland, biege, self-absorbed and hypocritical defines this class well.

Get Lasch's The Revolt of the Elites, or Affluenza if you want understand Boomers and what drives them. Or Erich Fromms The Sane Society for an overview.

- Will it set you free? Nope. Ken ought to know better than that, none of his works will help in that. This is something you do on you own. Otherwise you fall into the same trap the New Agers always fall into. Reading = personal transformation.

- Ken seems to have gotten progressive more complicated in his writings. Works like The Atman Project, A Brief History of Everything, and Marriage of Sense and Soul. Were succinct and did not really require to read his other books to understand.
At heart Ken is a syncretist and theoretician not a mystic in any way. But more along the lines of Lord Whitehead than a Rumi. Eckhart, or Milrepa. As such he's lover of ideas and thoughts.
His works are growing more complex, detailed and repetitive.
Hence becomming useless to spiritual seekers and only fit for map makers and intellectuals lost in thoughts.

Rating:

-3 stars for lack of narrative, too many psychobabble words and writing about a topic done much better by other authors.

+2 stars for content

Wildly intelligent, amazing, sexy, funny, outrageous, full of important ideas, coy; this book is just amazing in its integral depth, swirling philosophy, and incredible analysis. But beware - if you don't know Ken Wilber's work you may find it incomprehensible. If this isn't the upward spiral, spiritual path, or whatever, I don't know what is. Pilgrim's progress as well as boomer's progress. Ken is once again proof that he is the Enistein (hic) of consciousness, or maybe the Jim Carrey of consciousness, or both, or whatever.