Breakfast with Buddha

When his sister tricks him into taking her guru on a trip to their childhood home, Otto Ringling, a confirmed skeptic, is not amused. Six days on the road with an enigmatic holy man who answers every question with a riddle is not what he'd planned. But in an effort to westernize his passenger--and amuse himself--he decides to show the monk some "American fun" along the way. From a chocolate factory in Hershey to a bowling alley in South Bend, from a Cubs game at Wrigley field to his family farm near Bismarck, Otto is given the remarkable opportunity to see his world--and more important, his life--through someone else's eyes. Gradually, skepticism yields to amazement as he realizes that his companion might just be the real thing.
In Roland Merullo's masterful hands, Otto tells his story with all the wonder, bemusement, and wry humor of a man who unwittingly finds what he's missing in the most unexpected place.
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Community Reviews
This may have been better as a short story. There was so much unnecessary information that did not add to the story at all...dozens of pages filled with irrelevant detailed descriptions of food, driving routes, childhood memories and more.
As much as I was happy for Otto to finally put his guard down and try something new, it was really hard to listen to him fight against it so fiercely every step of the way.
The saddest part is that in the end he still doesn't get it. He does the one thing that the Rinpoche, or even Buddha himself, would not want him to do. So after that very long journey, it turns out he wasn't really listening after all.
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