Customer Reviews

Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries

5 star:		(5)
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Jen-Zen is as likable as the title. The book straddles the romance and mystery genres, with enough "magic realism" to please a fantasy lover like myself. It is a very romantic tale of love between a photographer putting together a collection of photos of "one shoes" and a girl who falls into a coma. If Brad solves the mystery of the one shoes, he may be able to save his lost love.

A friend recommended this book to me. What had me hooked from page one was the prose. Julie has the most original, lyrical voice I've read in years. Being as I read a novel every two weeks or so, that is saying something.

All in all, a great read for anyone looking for a truly original story.

Anyone who has ever had a relative in intensive care will recognise the first few chapters of this book: the way a relative drifts in and out of a morphine induced fog, the attempts of others to communicate with them, and the apparent unreality of the whole situation. Anyone who has ever had their life tipped upside down will agree with the main character who wants his old life back.
I won't try to summarise the subject of this book, or its main themes: the first reviewer has done that well.
But Ms Shapiro has an eye for detail, an awareness of bodily sensations, a sense of smell and light that few writers have. Often as I read this book I thought, "Why didn't I write that sentence?"
I'd give it 5 stars. Anyone outside the US (like me) can buy it most easily from the publisher's website as an E book (SynergEbooks.com)
Richard Snow
www.snowinmelbourne.com

Jen-Zen and the One-Shoe Diaries written by Julie Ann Shapiro is a fictional account of one man's magical, and sometimes surreal, journey through life, love, death and the power of art and imagination.

Brad is a photographer with an artist's eye and is the central character of the novel. His one-time love, a woman who is known as Jen-Zen, provides Brad with a window into his past and soul. It starts with harrowing ordeal that challenges Brad's emotional well-being is soon transformed into a riveting mystery. A whimsical romp following a trail of single shoes culminates into an extraordinary journey into the human heart.

I found myself on a similar journey as I read chapter after chapter. As an artist myself, I was drawn in by Brad's experiences that were curiously a mirror of my own. However, instead of photography, my art-in-hand is writing. I discovered parallels between myself and Brad in such areas as creativity (what it means to be an artist) and vision (how we see the world is just as important as how we interpret it).

In all, I enjoyed reading Ms. Shapiro's novel on the basis of its 'truth-in-art' mystique as well as in its heart.

Jen-Zen and the One-Shoe Diaries written by Julie Ann Shapiro is a creative and artistic love story, and a mystical and poetic mystery. The prose is palpable and allows the reader to feel the story's rich literary texture.

Jen-Zen sees the beauty in life and Dan cleaves to it through his memories of her. Jen-Zen captured the essense of his soul.

Join Dan as he follows a trail of single shoes that leads him back to a place in his heart and soul where he had always been.

This is a gloriously fun and uplifting tale. There are traces of magic and the theme is centered on the mystical properties that are always at work in the (true) creative process. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was inspirational, and I recommend it to artists of all genres as well as those who just like a good, quick-moving story.