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About the Book
About Suzuki Roshi
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Quotes from Reviews of Crooked Cucumber - with blurbs below |
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[See bottom of page for quotes as found on the cover of the hardback--slightly different than on Review page.] [The following list of review quotes was put together on 7/29/99 to submit to Broadway Books for possible blurb use for the paperback. No particular order. Additions have been made since then. No particular order. It was updated in April of 2000 and is incomplete.--DC] "Chadwick's biography provides a generous glimpse of the humanity and message of one of the great spiritual teachers of the modern world." -Publisher's Weekly "Thoughtful, vivid, and well-paced…both respectful and honest."-San Jose Mercury News "The first definitive biography of a Zen Master… Crooked Cucumber portrays Suzuki as a fully rounded human being, dedicated and wise, but not infallible."-Houston Chronicle "Gives those of us who were not there the opportunity to know Suzuki more profoundly, and offers others the chance to relive the birthing of Zen in America… In the end, this is more than a biography. It's a record of the meeting of hearts and minds, a great testament to the universal power of flexibility and compassion."-Japan Times "A thorough, graceful, frank, and loving account… Passages from Suzuki Roshi's teachings, beautifully edited, salt the narrative. One need not be a practitioner or even a student of Buddhism to enjoy them."-Santa Fe New Mexican "A monk who was thought to be as useless as a crooked cucumber, under the pen of Chadwick turns out to be a brilliant, witty, tireless patriarch of American Zen."-Amazon.com "This wonderful biography… is very welcome… Highly recommended."-Library Journal "[In this] marvelous biography of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi...it does indeed feel that he breathes, sits, speaks, suffers, and acts in these pages."-Shambala Sun "[Suzuki's] tender, funny, and strong presence imbues the book as if he is still with us."-Yoga Journal "Crooked Cucumber affords a wonderful opportunity to meet [Suzuki]. It is also good to recognize that unwavering integrity, passionate commitment and dedication to mission can make as great a contribution in this contemporary world as flash and rhetoric."-LA Times "Offers an informal, loving rendering of Suzuki's life, but throws in enough spice, secrets and innuendo to keep skeptical readers turning the page… a delightful read."-San Francisco Chronicle "The man and the message come together."-Washington Post "A deceptively unassuming introduction to Zen tradition and to Suzuki."-Whole Earth Review "David Chadwick has woven a beautiful narrative biography of Shunryu Suzuki (1904-1971). It is a rich, multi-layered portrait of a key figure in the development of American Soto Zen, and heartily recommended."-Turning Wheel, Journal of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship "Chadwick paints a very human, very candid portrait of this "little" teacher who was so important to the awakening of America to Eastern spirituality."-NAPRA ReView "Chadwick undertook the impossible task of conveying in language the spirit of Suzuki and to a remarkable degree succeeded."-Pacific Sun (Marin County, CA) "A serious and entertaining book for anyone; regardless of religious beliefs or philosophy."-Monterey Peninsula Herald (CA) "This book has a story of a man that is well worth hearing and it can help us understand the processes we are involved in and the tasks at hand. Not just our personal paths, but also our culture’s path"-New Ch'an Forum (UK) "Chadwick's skillful writing makes the book as readable as a fine novel and as enthralling as a mystery."-Nob Hill Gazette (San Francisco) "It always astonishes me how much one person whose mind is set on their practice and whose life is true to their ideals can influence others. ... This is a very readable book. I couldnąt put it down."-Swami Radhananda, Ascent Magazine "It is greatly to Chadwick's credit as writer and biographer that... he is both willing and able to explore Suzuki's shadow side... Conveys the richness of Suzuki's character, the greatness of his teaching, and how he helped influence the direction of Zen Buddhism in the 20th Century." - Daily Yomiuri QUOTES AS USED ON THE JACKET OF THE HARDBACK "Shunryu Suzuki comes to life through these pages to a degree I would not have thought possible. Chadwick has produced a remarkable biography of a truly remarkable man."-Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions "It's impossible to imagine a better book than this about Suzuki Roshi. It possesses the virtues of its subject--straight forward, without excess, without deficiency, without pomp or falseness. Its precise picture of Suzuki's values, hopes and problems could make it a major primer of Zen itself."-Robert Pirsig, author of Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance "Like a pebble dropped into a still pond with ever-widening waves
of resonance, here is the arc of a life unfolding across civilizations and
centuries of Buddhist practice to bring the way of Zen into the everyday
lives of a generation of American seekers. Shunryu Suzuki taught by
example, extraordinary in its ordinariness, leaving no trace except the
transparent wisdom and lucent joy of living in a world with nothing to
hold on to and everything to share.-Steven Tipton, October 30, 1998 |
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