With her distinctive mix of brightly colored jacket art and handwritten text, SARK offers another fanciful yet thoughtful guide to life. Heavier on the whimsy than her last book, Transformation Soup, which focused on healing, this one exudes her characteristic outlook on life's continuous difficulty and people's "splendid imperfections." Retaining a light, positive and humorous tone, even when she discusses death, SARK advocates finding pleasure in every situation, while admitting that, as for many people, "the struggle still feels more comfortable to me than the pleasure." In the spirit of teaching what she most needs to learn, she reminds readers that "our spirits are in need of pleasure, like our bodies need vitamins, or oxygen, or water." Based on this ethic of joy, SARK demonstrates what might be gained from painful experiences, other people, mistakes, change, nature, ordinary things around the house and imaginary or vicarious adventures. She uses anecdotes from her own and others' lives to illustrate how "pleasure responds to invitation," showing up when and where we may least expect it, if we are open to receiving it. As always, SARK's simple artwork and scribbled text make readers feel like they've received a secret note from their best friend in the middle of a tedious class. Agents, Debra Goldstein and Mary Ann Naples, Creative Culture. (May 2)
Forecast:The peerless author of 10 books, including
Succulent Wild Woman and
Living Juicy, has attracted a devoted following and licensed an impressive array of tie-in posters, stationery, calendars and totebags available online and in bookstores. Like her previous books, this one will win robust sales and enthusiastic fans with the help of a 14-city tour on which she will conduct mini-workshops in bookstores and related venues.
