{"product_id":"four-men-shaking-isbn-9781611807295","title":"Four Men Shaking","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom Pushcart Prize-winning author Lawrence Shainberg, a funny and powerful memoir about literary friendships, writing, and Zen practice.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Inexplicably good karma”—to this, author Lawrence Shainberg attributes a  life filled with relationships with legendary writers and renowned  Buddhist teachers. In \u003ci\u003eFour Men Shaking\u003c\/i\u003e he weaves together the  narratives of three of those relationships: his literary friendships  with Samuel Beckett and Norman Mailer, and his teacher-student  relationship with the Japanese Zen master Kyudo Nakagawa Roshi. In  Shainberg’s lifelong pursuit of both writing and Zen practice, each of  these men represents an important aspect of his experience. The  audacious, combative Mailer becomes a symbol in Shainberg’s mind for the  Buddhist concept of “form,” while the elusive and self-deprecating  Beckett seems to embody an awareness of “emptiness.” Through it all is  Nakagawa, the earthy, direct Zen master challenging Shainberg to let go  of his endless rumination and accept reality as it is.\"Shainberg’s enlightening memoir about three transformative relationships is accessible, deceptively simple, and wise.\" —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly, \u003c\/i\u003estarred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eFour Men Shaking\u003c\/i\u003e felt to this reader a deeply necessary utterance, one effortlessly delivered after decades of rigorous preparation. By the time I finished it I was a fifth man shaking, and with gratitude.”—Jonathan Lethem, author of \u003ci\u003eMotherless Brooklyn\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Brilliant. And very moving.”—Mark Epstein MD, author of \u003ci\u003eAdvice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Where else can you find penetrating insights into the creative and spiritual complexities of daily life alongside no-holds-barred conversations involving literary icons Samuel Beckett and Norman Mailer? \u003ci\u003eFour Men Shaking\u003c\/i\u003e is engaging from beginning to end, and beyond.”—Rudolph Wurlitzer, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Drop Edge of Yonder\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHard Travel to Sacred Places\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Shainberg has done the impossible: taken three entirely different lives and woven them together so they form a fourth—an honest, wide-eyed but sage narrator who can both thumb-wrestle and meditate. The book combines humor and wisdom in an original and totally engaging narrative. I read it with full pleasure.”—John Skoyles, author of \u003ci\u003eA Moveable Famine\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSecret Frequencies\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eLawrence Shainberg is the author of the celebrated memoir \u003ci\u003eAmbivalent Zen\u003c\/i\u003e as well as the nonfiction book \u003ci\u003eBrain Surgeon: An Intimate View of His World\u003c\/i\u003e. He has published three novels—\u003ci\u003eCrust\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOne on On\u003c\/i\u003ee, and \u003ci\u003eMemories of Amnesia\u003c\/i\u003e—and his fiction and journalism have appeared in \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHarper’s Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTricycle\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize for a monograph on Samuel Beckett, published in \u003ci\u003eThe Paris Review\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Shambhala","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303772901605,"sku":"NP9781611807295","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781611807295.jpg?v=1767727608","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/four-men-shaking-isbn-9781611807295","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}