Pass the Jelly: Tales of Ordinary Enlightenment

By Gary Crowley

Book Overview

Engaging and fast paced, Pass the Jelly will have you laughing through a wild ride filled with unforgettable characters. Poignant and often hysterical memories from the author's 1970s New England childhood combine with outrageous present day interactions in an irreverent, charming journey as the author relates the insights he gathers along the way. The reader is challenged and entertained by a philosophy of life that is a welcome contrast to today's conventional wisdom. Genuine and heartfelt, the stories will stick with you long after you finish the book.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591810922
• ISBN13: 9781591810926
• Release Date: December 2009
• Publisher: Sentient Publications
• Length: 199 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

Laugh your way into enlightenment

This book surprised me. At first it appeared to be a silly book about a crazy day in the life of the author but as he guides you deftly through the book he carefully takes the reader through the author's magical journey to his personal enlightenment. Through his journey I also found myself opening my mind to a new way of looking at my life and my world. The way he weaves his tale through humor enabled me to look at my life and laugh and see that life is as hard as you choose to make it. Congratulations to Gary Crowley for finding a way to cover some very deep and philosophical subjects while giving the reader a great laugh out loud experience. In my opinion he has given a fresh face to old ideas and put the reader at ease to find their way along this journey called life.

Like getting cracked in the funny bone by a Zen Master!

So, I received an innocent looking email from Gary Crowley on November 24, 2009, saying that he had a new book coming out, Pass the Jelly: Tells of Ordinary Enlightenment, and he wanted to send me a free copy. Well, who doesn't like a free book? Especially when it's on a topic near and dear your heart: spiritual awakening. So, I told him to go ahead and send it. What I didn't tell him was that I have over a dozen other books that I am currently working through to review for my website, and that I most likely wouldn't be getting to his until well into 2010. The book arrived the very next day, which happened to be the day before Thanksgiving. After tearing open the envelope and holding the brand new autographed paperback in my hands, I did what all true bookoholics do: I cracked it open and took a big whiff: "Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" After coming down from my fresh glue, ink and paper high, I looked at the cover which features a jar of orange marmalade (which technically should be grape, but you'll have to read the book to find out why!) carefully perched on top of three smooth stones. While I understood the three stones reflected the Zen flavor of the book, I was curious about the jar of jelly and why, according to the book's title, it needed to be passed. Even though I had no intention of reading the whole thing, I figured I would just read a little bit to find out about the book's intriguing title. Although I didn't know it at the time, that's like being a crack addict and saying you are just going to take one hit and then put the pipe down: you are only fooling yourself. You see, once you start reading this book, your brain quickly realizes it has never read anything quite like this. Gary masterfully combines hilarious stories from his own life growing up in an Irish Catholic family of seven, deadly accurate observations about human nature that, for whatever reason, tend to elude 99% of the humans on the planet, and he does it with such zeal, humor and raw honesty, that you find yourself craving more. I am telling you, if crack could be made into a book, this would be the book!! What's more, it begins to dawn on you as you make your way through the book, that Gary's outlook on life is not only more interesting and fun than your own, but much more importantly, it's more accurate. "People do what they do. That's what they do. And that is it." You see, the mind, bless its little heart, continually asks the wrong question. It wants to know WHY a person behaves a certain way. However, the truth is, as Gary keeps pointing out throughout the book, is that the only answer is, because it's the only thing they could do! Once the full weight of this insight hits you, it seems so obvious that you wonder how you ever missed it. People do what they do. That's what they do. And that is it." Gary is a scientist of human nature, and the world is his lab. And as you read his insights, you realize that being the scientist, rather than the rat, is a lot m

Side splitting Humour and Wit, at it's most illuminating.

People, Oh my goodness, you have too buy this book! Best read in a very long time. I just finished this masterpiece today. This will make the perfect gift for all seasons. The perfect Christmas Stocking stuffer! Gary's tales of childhood dazzle the mind in familiar and outrageously funny ways. I literally had to stop several times to catch my breath from the side splitting humor on steroids that is vividly on display on every page. The humor is mixed with profound and illuminating lessons of a life that exudes compassion and love for all the situations he describes that we can all relate to. The much deeper essence of our true nature is revealed with humor and power! Every chapter sings with events and people just as they are, and as seen with the depths of Gary's unique take on the crazy world we live in. My hats off to him. Bravo Mr. Gary Crowley

An Assortment of Unforgettable Teachers

"A long chain of cause and effect had led to my being where I was, and while this is true for everyone all the time, I knew it wasn't personal. It never is. And knowing this allowed me to soak in the entire spectacle." Those opening lines lead the reader to meetings with an assortment of lovable, laughable, absurd, and wise characters from Gary Crowley's life. Gary finds a spiritual teaching with each person he introduces. Each story is injected with and wrapped in humor. This book is character driven. Who is the main character? Perhaps whoever you fall in love with the most. It might be Little Joe, a little person whose teaching I won't reveal but involves a stick: "All the kids loved Little Joe. He would walk down the street, and the moms would call out to their kids, 'Little Joe is walking by.' ... There are some memories in life that seem to summarize the best of times; my memories of sprinting out of the house to say 'Hi, Little Joe!' are just those. ... I got the gist of what [Little Joe] was saying. 'The stick' might have been my very first esoteric teaching on life. Maybe it will be Not Jim, the taciturn tow truck driver, "a modern-day wrangler out rescuing humanity's strays on their daily cattle drive to and from work" Or Raw Boy, the health food store employee engaged by Gary in conversation: "Oh, I'm completely addicted. I'm a self-confessed Javacrucian. Every morning when I take my first sip of coffee, I say out loud, `God, that's good.' " "Coffee is the most anti-spiritual drink on the planet," [Raw Boy] challenged. Shady Grady is one of several adults met by Gary as a lone boy or teen. As a lost five year old on a densely crowded beach, Shady Grady shows up in Gary's life as another version of Not Jim. Once the lost five year old is re-united with his parents, Shady Grady becomes the teacher: "Do you want to see how G.I. Joe would find his blanket at the beach?" he asked. I gave an affirmative nod. "Come with me," he said as we headed down to the water's edge. We arrived on the wet sand and turned to face all the beach goers on their blankets. "Can you see how all the life guard chairs look alike?" Shady asked. "Yes." "Well, you can't use only the lifeguard chairs to find your parents when you get lost, because they all look the same. Do you understand?" I nodded. "But if you stand right in front of your lifeguard chair," he instructed, "you can see that big flag in the parking lot right over the lifeguard's head. Now let's walk to the next one." When we were directly in front of the next lifeguard chair, Shady's voice got a bit more serious. You'll have to read the book to see how these characters develop, what they teach, and how their teaching fits into the flow of the work. My favorite might be the taxidermist, Mr. Gooch, whose heart and wisdom go deep. Eight year old Gary goes to Mr. Gooch's house: "Mr. Gooch picked up that I had come all the way to his home for a reason and seemed to take me quite se

Perfect (holiday) present for everyone!

Not too often a book can be recommended for ALL. Witty, uplifting and thought provoking, written in a very light style without pretension. There is something for everyone in this delightful book. This would make a perfect gift for any occasion.