For Dads who are just looking for a little R & R this Father’s Day, there’s a father-son debut novel by a Greenwich marketing consultant.
“Finding Buddha” is Jay Chalnick’s story of Hubert “Bode” Price, a 5-year-old Westport boy on a cross-country road trip with his widowed father. While the narrative follows the pair’s adventure across the U.S. and Baja, Mexico, the backdrop of the story details a more culturally significant event occurring on the other side of the globe: China is threatening to appoint the next Dalai Lama despite the protests of Tibetan Buddhists.
Throughout the journey we are shown the unique relationship between Bode and his father, Matthew, and witness as Matthew discovers just how extraordinary his boy is. Their story explores fatherhood, love, loss, letting go and the discovery of one’s greater purpose.
While Buddhism is a central theme of the book, the reader does not need any prior knowledge of Buddhism. As 5-year-old Bode points out: “It’s one of the first things we learned in kindergarten: Treat everything the way you want to be treated. If everyone did, everyone would be happier.”
Chalnick is the principal of the marketing consulting firm. Chalnick & Associates. He lives in Greenwich with his 10-year-old son.
For more, visit findingbuddha.com. – Georgette Gouveia
