Or So It Seems: Mr. Peterson's First Ever Do-It-Yourself Workshop

Or So It Seems by Paul Steven Stone follows Paul Peterson, a divorced advertising copywriter and former spiritual seeker, who finds himself in a very precarious situation with his son’s teacher, Allison Pratt. This moment triggers a metaphysical “Do-It-Yourself Workshop,” guided by the spirit of his deceased guru, The Bapucharya. Paul revisits important memories, including a humiliating Pinewood Derby involving his son Mickey, turbulent relationships with ex-lover Ellie Eichorn and ex-wife Marilyn, and childhood trauma connected to his abusive father. As Paul experiences these flashbacks and flashforwards from a heightened state of consciousness near the “Center Point of the Universe,” he seeks to understand the karmic lessons shaping his life. The story climaxes when Paul confronts Allison's violent ex-boyfriend, Junior. But will he survive what’s to come?

Paul Steven Stone is a gifted storyteller and entertainer, and he successfully blends first-person-narrative voice with the impersonal third-person-narrative voice to deliver a story that makes one think about one’s life and experiences. I was pulled in by how well the author picks up mundane experiences and infuses them with extraordinary beauty, always leading to deep spiritual inquiries. Themes of fatherhood, karma, and redemption recur throughout the pages, and Paul's desire to protect his son from the mistakes he made gives the story a unique resonance. The quirkiness of the voice and the funny characters, like the giggling, irreverent Bapucharya, made this worth reading for me, and it takes a unique skill to explore spiritual truths about consciousness and the illusion of time while keeping readers entertained. Streams of consciousness and social commentary elevate the beauty of the writing in Or So It Seems and feel like part of the story when you read some of them: “We are most of us divorced, most of us looking for a second or third chance to make it work, most of us resigned to the conditions in which we hunt.” This non-linear, spiritually rich, and hugely entertaining story wins at multiple levels.