Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond.

Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond

David Zurick

Shanti Arts

193 Hillside Road, Brunswick, Maine 04011

www.shantiarts.com

9781947067028, $19.95, PB, 234pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In "Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond", David Zurick (winner of the 2006 National Outdoor Book Award) recounts an event in his life that seems exceedingly uncomplicated: he built a goldfish pond in his backyard.

Yet, there is more to a goldfish pond than meets the eye.

Zurick's compelling story travels the world, encompassing places of extraordinary beauty and rich cultural traditions, but the core of it is in Wolf Gap Holler, Kentucky, where he lives among hard-working and community-minded neighbors, cuts firewood to keep warm in the winter, and enjoys morning coffee by his goldfish pond--often with his neighbor George.

"Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond" at first seems so simple that one barely notices its treatises on the sacred qualities of place, the contemplative virtues of nature, the dilemmas of sustainability, and the spiritual framework that undergirds life. Yet, this is what "Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond" is about: a sacred and seamless landscape that extends from the highest mountain plateaus in Tibet to the deepest hollers of Kentucky.

Critique: An inherently interesting and entertaining read from beginning to end, "Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond" is unique, extraordinary, and unreservedly recommended for community library collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Morning Coffee at the Goldfish Pond" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $5.99).