Sex, Death, Enlightenment

by Mark Matousek

Book Overview

In this classic memoir, a gay man living a fast-track life in NYC (working for artist Andy Warhol), escapes to India, confronts his demons, and takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride to realize his... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1573220329
• ISBN13: 9781573220323
• Release Date: March 1996
• Publisher: Riverhead Books
• Length: 261 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

a classic in gay lit and hindu/buddhist lit

a classic for gay men, people looking for more from life, people into eastern spiritual paths, and just all around good therapy. at times i wished mark were less heady, but given his background it shows who he is fairly well, and of course you see how he came to be that person. i gave my copy to a friend, other friends have ordered it and are enjoying it, and i am considering buying additional copies to circulate among friends. i read about him online, i read his follow up book, and hope to read other books of his in years to come. mark is a real gift to the gay community, as well as a gift to humanity and the world as a whole. i would love to see this book have further surges of popularity as it did when initially written. further generations can certainly use the questions he raises and the emotions this book brings up.

riveting

I didn't want to like this book. I didn't want to like a guy who had such low sexual morals and I sure didn't want to like a guy who would re-tell those sexual encounters so graphically. But like Mark I do. This is a really moving book with profound insights. I've read two of his books now and each one has left a quote on my refrigerator. This book put "Whatever it takes to break your heart and wake you up is grace". Wow! I read that and had to put the book down. What an interesting way to look at heartbreak and despair. This book is inspirational but probably too far out there for most people to "get".

A book for everyone who seeks to know life

Mark Matousek is a brave man and a generous heart. This true story of his tragic childhood, his escape into trading/selling his body for semblances of love, his entry into the chaos of the corporate world of New York with all the attendant singes of dermal pain and empty heart, his jogging into AIDS territory personally and in the loss of loved ones.......all of this journey must have been difficult to tell. But then he begins his odyssey of finding spiritual enlightenment and everything written before appears as preparation for his enlightenment. That Matousek writes well is a given here, and has been further substantiated in his subsequent books (like The Boy He Left Behind), and because of his finely honed skills this book steps beyond the too frequently published "self-help genre". SEX DEATH ENLIGHTENMENT could easily be a novel, so interesting and beautifully developed are all the characters at play here. The fact that this is one man's true journey toward entry into the spiritual world just makes it that much more engrossing. Though once on the bestsellar lists around the world, it seems that there should be a word of mouth compaign to bring people back (and find new readers) to this very special book. This writer has given us what really could be the discovery of a truely brave new world. Recommended as an inspiring guide to those who seek to truly know life and the connectedness of us all.

Harrowing, clarifying, and ultimately liberating

I'd repeat everything I've read in previous reviews. Suffice it to say that I've dog-earred just about every page, and will give this book to many, many friends. Mark's story is truly ripe for our time -- and he shows, without a doubt(!), that it *is* possible for us jaded moderns to shuck our numbing cynicism and embrace the entire, glorious, terrifying mess of our lives and move into true enlightenment, which is simply to say "Yes!" to the whole chaotic, unavoidable journey, and to know in our bones that we are loved, and capable of loving, beyond the cage of ego and fear.

Honest,courageous, healing, encouraging...Read it and Love!

Spiritual seekers, those trying to break through the residue of abusive and traumatic childhoods, any reader whose mind and heart gravitate toward truth, dignity, and healing love in all its guises will find inspiration and encouragement in Mark's writing. I read it twice this summer and am in the process of passing it on to everyone I care about