The Other Side of Eden

FROM THE BOOK JACKET:


As the son of a celebrated literary icon, John Steinbeck IV grew up in a privileged world peopled by the literati and the intellectual elite. Sadly, it was also a world of alcoholism, bitter divorce, estrangement, and abuse, on the part of both his mother and father. In this fascinating memoir, the late son and namesake of John Steinbeck writes with great insight and a gift for lyrical expression about his often painful youth.

Left unfinished at his untimely death, this testament to his life is here reconstructed by his former wife, Nancy Steinbeck. Interweaving her own reminiscences of her life with John Steinbeck IV, Nancy has created an engrossing account from two perspectives: John’s memories of his chaotic and adventurous upbringing and her own thoughts on their journey together to make a new life apart from the long shadow of a famous father and a troubled past.

Though laboring under the burden of being the son of a 20th-century legend, the younger Steinbeck established himself as a respected journalist in his own right, mainly through his writing on wartime Vietnam, which had a profound impact on his life. The Other Side of Eden contains many thoughts on Vietnam, including a memorable scene of his father’s visit to the war-torn country while the younger Steinbeck was in the army. There are also vivid recollections of his mother’s abusive, alcoholic rages; his lonely years in boarding school; his long battle with drug addiction; and his strained relationship with his remote, conflicted father.

Nancy Steinbeck adds important perspective as an outsider getting to know this complex family through John, and in the end helping him to put his life on a sound footing. Both Nancy and John, in their search for spiritual identity, were drawn to Tibetan Buddhism. Along the way they befriended a strange and fascinating collection of characters, from the Dalai Lama to William Burroughs and Abbie Hoffman. Their tale of triumph in the struggle against parental abuse, drug addiction, and the seductive trap of guru worship is a must read for all Steinbeck fans, as well as anyone who survived the sixties.

Although The Other Side of Eden appears to focus on the Steinbeck family, it also contains a raw exposé of the Shambhala International cult in its early years, before it turned into a corporate sham by greedy students and their puppet leader.

Oxford scholar, Andrew Harvey, wrote in the Foreword:

“A light of rare, bald awareness bathes the Steinbecks’ exposé of their disillusion with Tibetan Buddhism and its guru system. Searching for a spiritual truth that could spring them free of their inherited agonies and also for a “good parent”, they both became in the seventies, like so many other seekers, enamored of the “Crazy Wisdom” teacher, Trungpa Rinpoche. Initially intoxicated by Trungpa’s extravagance and brilliance, the Steinbecks came gradually to see how abusively, absurdly and dangerously grandiose he could be. They began to understand how sick with denial of his alcoholism and sexual cruelty the community that surrounded him was. This shocked them both into awakening from “the guru dream” and forced them to distance themselves from the savage, intricate cruelties of Tibetan Buddhism’s rotten, patriarchal, feudal system.”

FROM THE BOOK JACKET:


As the son of a celebrated literary icon, John Steinbeck IV grew up in a privileged world peopled by the literati and the intellectual elite. Sadly, it was also a world of alcoholism, bitter divorce, estrangement, and abuse, on the part of both his mother and father. In this fascinating memoir, the late son and namesake of John Steinbeck writes with great insight and a gift for lyrical expression about his often painful youth.

Left unfinished at his untimely death, this testament to his life is here reconstructed by his former wife, Nancy Steinbeck. Interweaving her own reminiscences of her life with John Steinbeck IV, Nancy has created an engrossing account from two perspectives: John’s memories of his chaotic and adventurous upbringing and her own thoughts on their journey together to make a new life apart from the long shadow of a famous father and a troubled past.

Though laboring under the burden of being the son of a 20th-century legend, the younger Steinbeck established himself as a respected journalist in his own right, mainly through his writing on wartime Vietnam, which had a profound impact on his life. The Other Side of Eden contains many thoughts on Vietnam, including a memorable scene of his father’s visit to the war-torn country while the younger Steinbeck was in the army. There are also vivid recollections of his mother’s abusive, alcoholic rages; his lonely years in boarding school; his long battle with drug addiction; and his strained relationship with his remote, conflicted father.

Nancy Steinbeck adds important perspective as an outsider getting to know this complex family through John, and in the end helping him to put his life on a sound footing. Both Nancy and John, in their search for spiritual identity, were drawn to Tibetan Buddhism. Along the way they befriended a strange and fascinating collection of characters, from the Dalai Lama to William Burroughs and Abbie Hoffman. Their tale of triumph in the struggle against parental abuse, drug addiction, and the seductive trap of guru worship is a must read for all Steinbeck fans, as well as anyone who survived the sixties.

Although The Other Side of Eden appears to focus on the Steinbeck family, it also contains a raw exposé of the Shambhala International cult in its early years, before it turned into a corporate sham by greedy students and their puppet leader.

Oxford scholar, Andrew Harvey, wrote in the Foreword:

“A light of rare, bald awareness bathes the Steinbecks’ exposé of their disillusion with Tibetan Buddhism and its guru system. Searching for a spiritual truth that could spring them free of their inherited agonies and also for a “good parent”, they both became in the seventies, like so many other seekers, enamored of the “Crazy Wisdom” teacher, Trungpa Rinpoche. Initially intoxicated by Trungpa’s extravagance and brilliance, the Steinbecks came gradually to see how abusively, absurdly and dangerously grandiose he could be. They began to understand how sick with denial of his alcoholism and sexual cruelty the community that surrounded him was. This shocked them both into awakening from “the guru dream” and forced them to distance themselves from the savage, intricate cruelties of Tibetan Buddhism’s rotten, patriarchal, feudal system.”