Customer Reviews

The Dream and the Awakening: A True Story That Exposes the Soul Mate Myth

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This story comes busting out of the gate like a horserace. It hooked me hard, relationships, work, business, sex, lying, flipping, flopping, passion, dodging, debt... It's the American dream. It was a roller coaster ride that I couldn't set down. The frankness and honesty of the writer with his knowledge of many subjects and places, will keep you turning pages until you cross the finish line. I couldn't stop thinking, "been there", let's see how will he get himself out of that? Just when you think it's calming, it gets that "terminator" GEN-thinking, "I'm back", ZAP!

Everyone will be able to relate to at some angle. I love the way he let's you know what he thinks, everyone is thinking. It is a brilliant style of writing. You will find yourself staring back at yourself through every page. I love learning about the Israeli and local southern California cultural traits and references, as well as the many viewpoints and quotes from Kabala and Hebrew. The Dream and the Awakening is a well written, savory, sizzling tale of your life or someone you love.

I don't read many books, but this one appealed to me and I could hardly put it down. It made me laugh and, and took me through every emotion imaginable from anger to frustration, to despair and eventually to relief. At times I thought Kathleen and Aron should stay together as soul mates and other times I thought they should not. I could personally identify with the infidelity part and the book made me more aware of the differences between men and women. It also gives a fairly deep view into the psyche of some men, especially the concept of "genthink". Read the book to find out what genthink is. You won't be disappointed. Definitely five stars.

A fascinating read for reasons that are far removed from the author's intent. Though billed as a "True story that exposes the soul mate myth" it is beyond that hyperbole, a painfully honest look at a protagonist whose like I haven't seen since "Alfie." This man is an icon for the self-absorption of the eighties. He is selfish, materialistic, egocentric and cowardly. I could not raise an ounce of sympathy for his conflicts. I also, could not put the book down. This character is always engrossing. It's like witnessing a train wreck - horrible and mesmerizing.

This is one of those books that hooks you from the start and gets you really involved. I cared about the characters and their situations. Aaron, the main character, was, like many men, a victim of his libido. The author coined a funny term, genthink, for thinking with the genitals. Being a woman I felt for Dorit, his wife, and was amazed at her rational reaction when she discovered Aaron's affair. The twists and turns when Aaron tries to let go of his love for Katherine, the "other" woman, in order to keep the family together, keep you turning pages, wondering if he's going to leave his family for her or not. The heart-wrenching scenes involving the two young sons, Saul and Ricky, brought me to tears.
This story is a great warning about what can happen to families when men think the grass is greener elsewhere. It's also a great warning to any woman considering getting involved with a married man.
Just a quick comment on "Roger Hartuni's" comment in his one star review where he said, how can this possibly be non-fiction? The author has impossible insight into the lives, minds, and emotions of the other characters in the book..." Maybe Mr. Hartuni doesn't know what poetic license means, or he never bothered reading the Author's Note where he admits to using poetic licence.

Sharyn Wynters auhor of
SURVIVE!: A Family Guide to Thriving in a Toxic World

I was immediately drawn into Mr. Mason's book, "The Dream and the Awakening," for I could relate. I was going through a divorce, fighting the soul mate myth to which my now ex-wife was drawn. Mr. Mason's honest portrayal of Aaron's matrimonial demise will ring true to anyone who is involved in a relationship based on lust and physical attraction.

This true story draws us into a world of lies and deceit. We are introduced to a couple, the man is married and the woman is single. The reader intuitively feels that this relationship has a half-life of six months. However, the focus character, Aaron, couldn't see through the haze of his passion that he was taking foolish risks and placing his family in jeopardy.

Mr. Mason provides us with a bird's eye view of the stupidity of an American male thinking with the wrong head. If the situation in which Aaron placed himself wasn't so frustratingly stupid, we'd be forced to laugh.

"The Dream and the Awakening: A True Story That Exposes the Soul Mate Myth," is an eye opener for anyone considering commitment based on lust. By the time you finish this book, you will have a deeper awareness of the nature of true love, and the fallacy of the myth we call, "soul mate." Don't miss this heart felt passionate page turner.

This is quite an amazing story. It reads like a fast-paced novel, with great characterization, dialogue and plot. It shows what can happen to someone who falls "in" love after buying into, what the author calls the soul mate myth. Aaron, the protagonist, comes across as a "gen-thinking" womanizer at first. Read the book to find out what gen-think means. Aaron trys despertely to do right by his family, but, as always happens in these situations, someone is going to get hurt. Just when you think the situation is going to be resolved, Aaron makes another "u-turn" and off it goes again, making you turn pages fast to see what's going to happen next. I found myself looking forward to coming home from work so I could get back into it. Very didactic.

Question: What is worse than watching a train wreck?

Answer: Watching a train wreck in slow motion.

As difficult as it is to avert one's eyes from an impending train wreck, so it is with Michael Mason's new book. With every page turned, the wreck of a marriage lies just ahead, just around the bend, and the protaganist, unable or unwilling to halt impending doom stands idly by as the surrounding landscape of his life sweeps past.

"A real page turner". "Couldn't put it down." The reader knows where the train is going, knows the wreckage will soon be strewn, with lives lost, and much to be mourned. And page after page, a life passes in slow motion, with time aplenty to stop the destruction, but without the will to apply the brakes. A fascinating glimpse into a marriage whose wreckage lies clearly at the feet of the protagonist.

A truly inept piece of writing featuring a thoroughly dislikable trio involved in completely predictable and trite marital betrayal.The protagonist Aaron is possessed of such utter self absorption that I thought he was putting us on. But no, I think he really believes these "emotions" to be authentic and even admirable. His wife is a harpy and his mistress, a whining bimbo. Through it all, his sad children are subjected to emotional and physical upheaval as it seems neither parent is at all concerned about sparing them the more grisly details of their dismal marital breakdown. One reads it with squeamish fascination because, dreadful as it is, one needs to know how these piteous people are going to solve their tawdry problems. And for that, I suppose one can laud the author, as he merrily romps along, completely unaware of how his attitudes and observations show him up as a classic narcissist. Icky. I hope he's writing under a pseudonym!!

Michael, it was a pleasure to meet you and thank you for giving me your book. It was as if I were reading my own story except I opted for the out path... If I could replay it all I would have stayed and assure you that it is no different out here except that the grass is cut differently and fertilized with different scents. So much pain when we gen-think! Thank you for your book and if you can stop just one, it is worth a thousand souls down the line. Thank you!

First of all, how can this possibly be non-fiction? The author has impossible insight into the lives, minds, and emotions of the other characters in the book. Is he some kind of psychic? How else can his confident knowledge and understanding of other people's thoughts be explained?

There is no personal growth, but there are shocking amounts of displaced blame, devoid of any personal responsibility. I also took umbrage to the fact that all of the female characters are stupid, nagging, manipulative martyrs. It seems that Mason is a misogynist at heart.

The erotic scenes are juvenile and trite. It is disappointing (not to mention disillusioning) that the main character behaves in such a pathetic fashion. I cringed at his feeble attempts to be suave -- it took me back to my own inept prepubescent fumblings. Aaron has all the instincts of a randy pre-teen, with matching humor to boot.

The dialogue... inane. Everything is overstated, as if the author feels that his audience is a bunch of half-wits who need to have everything explained to them. In addition to that, the descriptions of the characters' emotions are often wierdly mismatched with their given situations, leading to this reader's suspicion that Aaron et al are secretly hooked on crack.

And incidentally, what the hell does a child eating rice in China have to do with you getting a parking ticket in the United States? And what kind of parent would have his kids assist him in setting up a bed in the living room for a painfully embarassing tryst with an estranged spouse, instructing them to then go play quietly in their room (so he can bang mommy -- in the livingroom)?!

Read this for a few laughs, otherwise, I say "NOooooo", ("in a monotone"). Save your money for a good, healthy pack of filterless cigarettes -- a much more constructive thing to do with your hard-earned cash.