The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness: A True Story (Hardcover)

by Joel Ben Izzy (Author) "LET ME TELL YOU a tale of long ago, from the old city of Jerusalem, back in the days when Solomon was king..." (more)
Key Phrases: cricket who, beggar king, gas men, Grandpa Izzy, Santa Cruz, Buried Treasures (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
First-time author ben Izzy's vocation as a professional storyteller may fill his life with heady myth and poetry, but as he acknowledges early on in this slim but memorable recollection of personal tragedy, "the absence of magic" in his childhood is the very thing "that sent me looking for it." He found it in the unlikeliest and most cruelly ironic way. After undergoing surgery to remove thyroid cancer, ben Izzy lost his voice-the instrument of not only his art, but also his livelihood. Telling himself that a return to the routine of performance would spark a recovery, ben Izzy accepted an offer to perform at a bar mitzvah, but only "whispers and gasps" emerged. Retreating into self-pity, anger, hopelessness and sullen solitude, the author searched, like the protagonists in the stories he used to tell, for a spiritual explanation of the loss. He reconnected with his estranged, cantankerous mentor, who offered support by telling dizzyingly enigmatic stories hinting at the idea that ben Izzy had been given a magical gift by losing his voice. When a doctor suggested he might be able to help ben Izzy speak again in a risky procedure, ben Izzy's wife told him she liked him better without it, an incident the author does not satisfyingly explain. But ben Izzy successfully translates the best elements of oral storytelling to the page; his memoir shines with brisk suspense as well as his unerring, precise eye for including only the elements of his hard-won wisdom that matter the most.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In his debut effort, professional storyteller Ben Izzy shares personal experiences that have caused him to search for life's true meaning in the stories he has spent two decades telling. The book starts with the fable of the beggar king, in which King Solomon loses his kingdom and is left to wander the land as a beggar, and from there Ben Izzy's own tale unfolds. A renowned storyteller, the author was at the top of his game when throat cancer robbed him of his voice. As a consequence, he lost his livelihood and became severely depressed until he met up with his old mentor Lenny, a cantankerous and often drunk old storyteller who helped him to stop dwelling on his misery and to see his fate in terms of life's bigger picture. The book ends with the conclusion of the story of the beggar king, in which King Solomon's journey is realized as an illusion, and with Ben Izzy making sense of the cards fate has dealt him. Kathleen Hughes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books (November 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565122909
• ISBN-13: 978-1565122901
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #276,940 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary Book, November 4, 2003

By A Customer

EXTRAORDINARY, A ONE-IN-A-MILLION EXCEPTIONAL BOOK, A MUST READ, PACKED WITH WISDOM. You will not want to put this book down. Joel Ben Izzy is a professional storyteller who, because of a mindboggling twist of fate, loses his voice and is no longer able to perform. Months and months pass and there is no sign that his voice will return. How does a person let go and redefine one's hopes and dreams? Ben Izzy utilizes the tales he was once able to tell and applies their lessons to his own life. But perhaps the greatest benefactors of his experience are the readers who take to heart what he learned about the "secret of happiness."

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Didn't want to put it down, October 20, 2003

By A Customer

I started reading "The Beggar King" on a flight from San Diego to San Francisco. When the pilot announce that we were about to land, I found myself reading faster and faster. I just didn't want to put this book down! Ben Izzy is a masterful storyteller and the way he weaves ancient tales from around the world into his own personal (and authentic) story is fascinating. I found myself going from laughing out loud to getting choked up and teary-eyed, and then back to laughing out loud again. For me, that's one of the best gifts from a book like this -- bringing out our emotions and leaving us on a high. I know what I'm giving to my clients as holiday gifts this year! Definitely a great read with powerful lessons that I'll reflect upon for a long, long time.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Little Book is a MUST READ., September 11, 2004

By	J. Clark - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I got this book as a gift. I sat down in my favorite chair on a warm afternoon and started reading and reading and reading. This thing is so damn addictive I couldn't stop! I ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting and it felt like I was only reading for an hour. That was a couple of months ago. I've started reading it again this week and it's just as fun the second time around. There are many little life lessons weaved throughout that made me ponder my own existence but with a great sense of humor about it all. This is LAUGH OUT LOUD funny. What a great little gem of a book. I've bought copies for several of my friends and they've all had the same experience I did. I couldn't give it a higher rating. This is a MUST READ for anyone who thinks about life and who loves to laugh about life's little twists.