AUTHORHOUSE BOOK REVIEW

Slice of Life: A Self-Help Odyssey

By Rick Lindal $16.95; AuthorHouse; 210 pages

Slice of Life follows the odyssey of Rikki, a young boy transitioning to gay young man in Iceland. (Lindal, who grew up in Iceland, bases his tale on his own life story, and mixes in encounters with elves and trolls who populate the mythic plane of Iceland.) On his journey Rikki often seeks understanding from Old Soul, a spirit guide (fylgja in Icelandic).

The author, a practicing psychotherapist in Canada, on his website describes this book as a "… synthesis of spiritual, existential, and cognitive/behavioral approaches that will provide the reader with important concepts that are helpful for a reasonably successful opportunity in life." That's a mouthful and, wisely, Lindal only proffers "reasonably successful" as the payoff. Take it for what it's worth.

Lindal relies heavily on the influence of Viktor Frankl, noted Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, who was a leader in existential therapy; Seth, a disembodied personality channeled by Jane Roberts in the 1960s; Neale Donald Walsch (Conversations with God); and Michael Newton, whose focus is "life-between-life" regression.

Slice of Life is therefore a hodgepodge of different philosophies and approaches to finding meaning in life. One would think if this topic is of interest to folks, they might start with the writings of the above-named, well-known figures in their fields, rather than the musings of a psychotherapist who prefers to draw on the background of magical creatures from his childhood. Read More