A Book Review & Author Talk: Breakfast with Buddha & Roland Merullo

Today, Roland Merullo came to my university's campus to attend several classes and to read to the public this evening. For those who don't know the work of Merullo, he is the author of 15 books, and his most well-known novel is Breakfast with Buddha.

I first read Breakfast with Buddha as part of my Honors Colloquium last fall semester. Many passages from this book hit home for me, as a college student not fully sure of my independent self, because I could relate to the main character, Otto. This specific course focused on Buddhism in the modern world, so my professor emphasized that we were "on a journey" with Otto and Rinpoche throughout this novel.

For those who have not read this novel, I highly suggest it. If you have read another book by Merullo and disliked it, still pick this one up to try. When he came to speak to the current Honors Colloquium (the professor invited the "alumni" from last year to this session), Merullo talked about how his publisher and editors would prefer for him to write in a similar style continuously, but he says he can't. So if you've read another title by Merullo and wasn't a fan, still take a step into Otto's journey with a Tibetan monk.

I hadn't really considered being able to teach this specific novel in a class because the plot and theme central so much on a spiritual issue. Despite the literary value of this text, I feel as if I would have a difficult time justifying teaching Breakfast with Buddha in a public school. Would I enjoy it if I had the opportunity? Absolutely. However, that might not happen.

While in a question and answer session with Merullo, I was introduced to some of his other books that I would be able to consider as educational texts in a classroom (now I must read them!). The first is a story of a girl with cystic fibrosis, called A Little Love Story.

 Though I haven't read this novel (but I will!), I relate it to the novel Petey that I observed taught in a sixth grade classroom. The main character of that novel goes through many difficulties as a misdiagnosed patient who isn't treated very well. I wonder if Roland Merullo's A Little Love Story couldn't be a text to teacher students that though some people have physical disabilities or constraints, they are still human beings with emotions and dreams.