Customer Reviews

An Obese White Gentleman in No Apparent Distress

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"An Obese White Gentleman in No Apparent Distress" is the fictionalized version of Aikido Sensei Terry Dobsons life. It is a life that can only be described as paradoxical; filled with mirth, madnes and of course boundless love. Max (Dobson's fictional doppelganger) proudly wears his flaws like ketchup stains on his heavy white Gi; he drinks too much, takes too many drugs, eats to much red meat, while at the same time teaches conflict resolution via the Aikido principles of love and blending. He poo-poos tradition while at the same time shows a deep reverence for all things historical from both the East and the West. "What saved me was what saves all Martial men: martial men are filled with love". Dobson's undying love for Lena (Moss' doppelganger) drips from these pages.

Dobson's life partner Riki Moss writes with a simple and yet profound style that instantly pulls the reader into the story; her spiritual insights into the life of her man and her own life are inspiring. There is what can only be described as a brutal honesty to this book as Moss shows no compunctions about exposing this man and herself as flawed and so very human. Most of us spend our lives switching masks, only rarely allowing our real image to be revealed and even then only for brief glances before we snap them back into place. Rarely do we take them off and let the world look upon our naked souls. Riki Moss does that in this book with unabashed courage. Bravo.

There are lots of books that are entertaining, but only a few that have the power to turn our perceptions inward; few that encourage us to look at ourselves, warts and all. This is one of those books. A definite must read for anyone not afraid to look at their own diabolical nature to fully see the light that shines within. This is a great book that has the potential to shift the way you see the world.Pick this one up...you won't regret it.

What a big wild hairy book! Funny, touching and wise. If you didn't know Terry Dobson, or the capacious Riki Moss, this book is the next best thing. It is like the most entertaining dinner conversation, where you stagger away at 3 in the morning and lay awake in the dark smiling. ~ Little Mary

Terry Dobson was one of the great Aikido teachers of the end of the last century. This thinly-disguised story recalls a lot of what he was like as a person as well as a teacher. There is no attempt to hide or cover up aspects of his life that may, to some people, be less than palatable. Anyone interested in a personal look at a martial arts teacher should take a look at this book. Hamlet, when speaking of his father, says "He was a man for all that, and we shall not soon see his like again." I believe that the same could be said about Terry Dobson.

The book is very full, and gets very heavy twds the end. It it is very emotionally charged, and somehow succeeded at completely entangling me into that emotional context, which is basically that of Terry Dobson's diverse dualism, through which emerged his unshakable love for his woman (who i think is the author) and with it for the whole world - with or without it. It is interesting to note, how an aikido master (or not), reckless and inobstinate in his mundane life, gets almost automatically purified and tuned up at the hour of his death approaching, which is a story in and of itself. Overall, i give it a firm 5.

The title should be a clue: This is a work of extreme creativity, humor and deep human connection. Moss has done something very difficult--sidestepped the flawed and overwrought memoir genre and moved the story of extraordinary lives in an extraordinary time into a work of fiction. It is a credit to Moss' gifts (Is this really her first novel? She's just way too good to be a rookie) that she can merge fiction and "real life" with such skill that the reader does not feel manipulated or maligned in the process.

And these characters. You care about them immediately, and you want to find out what happens to them. This will be a book you will want to finish and will find hard to put down. The warmth, the comic turns, the engaging dialogue and commentary are all part of what makes this an unforgettable read.

I bought this hoping it would be largely about Aikido and Terry Dobson's experience about studying with the founder of Aikiko, O'Sensei. Relatively little of the book is about martial arts, but it turned out to be the compelling tale of a man's death - a real, "warts and all" portrayal, and we come to see that his view of himself is much more limited than that of his friends, students, and partner. I read the entire book in two sittings.

I was fascinated to read a story somewhat true, but fictionalized account of one of the few people outside of Japan to train with the founder of Aikido. I liked the setup, with first parts of each chapter a story by "Max" about his life and how martial arts played a big role in it. I was impressed with the "warts and all" openness about the character of Max, and curious, as I'm sure other readers are, about how close a description this was to Terry Dobson. It must also be kind of a hoot for those that actually knew the authors. An interesting love story as well. Excellent read.

This was an interesting novel about the relationship between Trry Dobson and Riki Moss. I purchased it because I was interested in a biography of Dobson, and it is that in the loosest sense. He does describe how he was ostracized by the Japanese aikidoka when he moved to the states, and it does have anough aikido in it to hold one's interest, but the novel is more about a man's life and his search for inner peace. That, more than the aikido, made it worth reading.

I was interested in reading more about Aikido, and one of the men instrumental in it's spread to America. It was very frustrating to read this book not knowing what parts were fact and what parts fiction. This book could have worked as one or the other, but not both.