Customer Reviews

East of Paradise, West of Ego

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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.