The Saint / Oliver Broudy

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Non-Fiction/Memoir/Travel

Approximate word count: 25-30,000 words

Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: NO Smashwords: NO Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

A finalist for the National Magazine Awards, this former editor for The Paris Review has written for several magazines. In addition to The Saint, he has one other work, The Codex, published as part of the Kindle Singles program. Broudy lives in New York. For more, visit his website.

Description:

A jaded New Yorker goes on a spiritual adventure with a millionaire revolutionary.

Appraisal:

The main character in The Saint, James Otis, is a wealthy collector of Gandhi memorabilia, with a drive to do good and an apparent disregard for his own health and safety. One of the things that struck me about this story was how well it integrated the story of Gandhi (both good and not), for those who might not be familiar with his life story. Gandhi’s story also gives insight into Otis and his motivations. What didn’t occur to me while reading the story was that it was actually true – a misconception corrected after the fact. The adventures of Otis and Broudy (who I now realize was the story’s narrator) read like fiction. That the story is true is even better and gives great insight into spirituality and religion along with current politics along the border of India and Tibet. One of my favorite passages was this succinct explanation of the difference between two of the world’s major religions: “Christianity is premised on man’s imperfection. Hinduism is premised on his perfectibility.”

The Saint also serves as a prime example of the Kindle Single program. Too long for a magazine article and too short for a paper book, this work was able to maintain its natural length as an e-book.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five stars