Customer Reviews

From an Otherwise Comfortable Room

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This thought provoking book can only be described as a cross between Burrough's Naked Lunch and Alice in Wonderland. Our main character Willie "Om" Omkowski being the Mad Hatter of a sorts.

A blend of narrative storytelling and philosophical musings, part verse, part dysfunctional memory, and part hallucinogenic reflection, this is a book for people who like a challenging read and are inclined to non-linear thinking.

The story here, if you could call it one for lack of a conventional plot, is the disjointed recollection of a man's life: part fact, part alcohol induced delusion. There is no rhyme or reason. Fiction blends seamlessly with legend, philosophical conundrums, historical truths, and the laboured breath of human existence - complete with radio static. As we begin our story, we are introduced to our drunkard of a narrator, William "Om" Omkowksi, as he, through his tall tale, attempts to connect the lines and the points of his own existence.

This book covers the mutable and the immutable with dizzying clarity, clarity that "is" and yet is conflicted to the point of being a senseless blur. Aside from the slight editorial issues, what struck me most about this book was the philosophy and the effortless expression of it through the subjective details. Every character was a metaphor and a mockery, and the satire at times was bludgeoning. This is not the world as we would know it, this is the world as William Omkowski sees it and lives it.

Hilarious, meandering, and twisted,every conjecture is something to ponder and ponder again. This book is exactly what it claims to be: A Creative and Adventurous Literary Journey. A journey that, at one turn, will have the reader perplexed and staring at the ceiling and at another will have the reader either shouting in agreement, shocked and awed, or laughing hysterically.

The memories of an old man are endlessly fascinating and intriguing. "From an Otherwise Comfortable Room" is a collection about fictional old man William Homer Omkowski, as he ponders his life and the strange people he has met, from poets to druids. Intriguing and entertaining writing from author Roger Sakowski, "From an Otherwise Comfortable Room" is a top pick.