You're in for an incredible ride! "Or So It Seems" will keep you glued to your seat and hungering for more. Heart-felt and witty humor, real-life recognizable human struggles, life lessons and spiritual wisdom that make you pause, wonder and consider ~ all this and more is waiting for you in this very different novel that keeps your mind and heart engaged in a way (and style) that is unique and compelling. I've never before read a book like this! Stone offers a tapestry of a tale woven together in colorful and textured layers that continually kept me engaged, and chuckling, long after I put the book down. I couldn't wait to return!

Besides being a lot of fun, this is one of the most compelling books I've read in a long time. I couldn't stop reading it! Stone is the Hitchcock of spiritual quest lit. And in such an unlikely place--an exegesis on a new religion. I can't decide if this book is a spiritual humor book or a humorous spiritual book.

Stone tells the story of Peterson, a man reacting to the behaviors of others, and then blaming the results on them. Over the course of a series of flashbacks he learns where his responsibility lies, and also that, once on the Path Of Seeking Truth, one can never really step off.

This book is about fun, too: fun with time and space (because really, when you remove the flashbacks, this book is about 10 minutes of time and maybe 25 feet of space. But with the flashbacks, it's about life, the universe, and everything--what Stone would call "the whole enchilada."), fun with acronyms, and how enlightenment means getting to that place where laughter is the best response to life.

Finished "Or So It Seems" by Paul Steven Stone last night. Very enjoyable. It came to me at particularly the right time, eerily the right time actually. The last few months I have been beginning to read and open my mind to similar concepts that that the book introduces. I'm beginning my journey if you will and am realizing that I am actually on a journey. So this book was very enlightening to me. Not to mention the humor, some serious laugh out loud moments in there. One of the episodes the main charactor in the book experienced actually caused me to drop the book and double over in laughter. The folks around me must have thought I was insane... I would recommend "Or So It Seems" to anyone.

This was a great book. It may not be for everyone, but the combination of hilarity, Eastern mysticism, reality and pathos hit me just right. It's kind of a difficult book to describe. Paul Peterson, during the course of being dragged by a female companion across her living room to her couch, reviews (with the help of the Bapucharya, spiritual leader of the Seekers for Truth) the major Milestones of his life. It's not a particularly eventful life, but we see the repercussions of decisions he has made--some good, some bad, but the point being that they ARE. Although it's not touted as being autobiographical, some of it must be, because Peterson's thoughts and emotions and reactions are so genuine. I particularly liked his (totally accurate!) descriptions of the singles dances! If you can keep your mind open and go with the flow, this is an enjoyable read!

Awesome book! I loved every chapter! Paul Steven Stone mixes eastern philosophy, humor, life, spirituality, new age, mysticism, and reality extremely well. However, no matter your religion, everyone will find something to enjoy in this book.

Each chapter is a different point and time in the narrators life, however time is not a straight line so you will jump back and forth a bit. I love how no matter what the subject matter, each chapter flows seemlessly between the previous and next chapters.

This book is great for anyone who seems to have troughs or bad moments in their life. i.e. EVERYONE!

For your consideration, a man spends fifteen years studying with the "Seekers of Truth", a contemplative religious sect, trying to be more conscious, trying to raise his inner levels to a higher state, then suddenly walks away, watches his marriage end, then his adventure with the human condition begins. A madcap romp through the seemingly mundane life of a middle aged man with thinning hair and bulging waistline, dealing with a not so friendly ex-wife and his three loving children and a not so thrilling job, not to mention the women that are attracted to him,but not alone, his guru is there in his consciousness, throwing humorous breadcrumbs to continue what he began fifteen years before. A great read with much information that is worth knowing but the humor drove the book as much as the wisdom found. I was enjoying the story so much, the plot crept up on me and I was surprised at the wacky conclusion. The author put a lot into bringing this story to light and I got a lot out of the message, or so it seems. MudslideSlim

This book is about a middle-aged divorced male's struggle with the contrasts in life's ups and downs while trying to follow what he has learned through his years of learning with the "Seekers of Truth".

The story flashes forward and backward, from one of the character's pivotal moments to the next. The author draws you into the scenes and you can't help but get attached to the likeable Paul Peterson and his son, Mickey.

Peterson struggles to provide his son with the guidance that he never received from his own father--actually affirming how difficult it is to break cycles of behaviors from generation to generation.

As Paul Peterson is on this life journey, he has a guru that shows up at some very inopportune moments, adding additional humor to the book.

The author's quick wit and sense of humor enlighten every page. This book is definitely a page-turner. I would have rated it higher had I liked the ending better--tho(without giving anything away) I think the ending was a lesson within itself.

I learned that everything happens for a reason. Even the painful parts of our lives have a lesson in them. It's hard to see at the time, but the learning that comes from the lessons, bring us closer to finding the truth that we are seeking ourselves.

I look forward to Paul Steven Stone's future writings.

Life as it takes place between a stairway and a ratty brown couch: ohmygoodness! So delightful. So full of a father's ups and downs culminating in his ultimate arrival. I could not put this down. I kept wandering "And then?". All the while, picking up eastern philosophy that I think will stay with me throughout my future, past and present. The inner life is as full of anything written by Chuck Palahniuk, the farce is as delirious as Christopher Moore and the philosophy as strong as Carlos Castaneda. And yet, this is a new voice filled with humor, love, and surprises. Paul Steven Stone, your Mom should listen to you from now on! It IS a book we want to read.

"Or So It Seems" is a non-stop romp of a novel which kept me engaged, entertained, and wondering what was coming next, from the opening page until the last line, 400 pages later. The reader is taken bumpily along, unexpectedly back and forth among pivotal scenes, mostly recent, in the life of narrator Paul Peterson.

We see Paul in various situations with his son, at age nine and, in a flashback, age five; with his own father when Paul was a boy; we see him with, and hear of his mixed feelings for, his ex-wife, four years after the end of their marriage; we get a glimpse of his work milieu: he is a copywriter at a large Boston ad agency; we look in on sessions with his shrink (which sometimes address events we've already witnessed); and we're treated to singles dances and other, sometimes more private, scenes between middle-aged men and women making their way through. . .middle age.

The intense, multi-layered examination of the meaning in each of these developing scenes from Paul's life is what keeps us interested, and ultimately makes us care about him and the people close to him. And the layer which acts most like a glue, and keeps the unstuck-in-time bouncing back and forth from getting too bouncy are the concepts which describe the spiritual journey Paul is on.

His quest is described by Paul in what he calls a Do-It-Yourself Workshop--the purpose of his writing the narrative in the first place--and in an ongoing dialog with his spiritual guru, the holy, giggling Bapucharya. The reader is aided with the jargon Paul and his fellow Seekers For Truth use by a glossary provided at the back of the book. The layers of philosophical and psychological analysis, which might have come across as a bit too preachy (at least for this reader who had his fill of pop-psych-spirituality in the 70s), become a natural expression of the man we get to know and want to cheer for. With seeming effortlessness, author Paul Stone has created a funny, authentic character who completely wins us over as we accompany him on his journey.

"Or So It Seems" by Paul Steven Stone is extremely well-crafted, honest, witty, and deeply insightful - a magnificent first effort that I strongly recommend to those who enjoy a teaspoon of sugar along with their daily cup of spirituality.