Crooked Cucumber The Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki by David Chadwick   Paperback 464 pages (February 2000) Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub ISBN: 0767901053 Bookshelf Categories Buddhism Spiritual Biographies

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Synopsis:

Since the publication of the landmark Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind 25 years ago, the influence of Shunryu Suzuki has grown extensively. His followers have long hungered for a full portrait of the man whose wisdom touched so many, but until now no book has been published by or about this extraordinary individual.

David Chadwick, who studied with Suzuki at the San Francisco Zen Center from 1966 until Suzuki's death in 1971, has interviewed his mentor's family, friends, and disciples.

Reviews:

Deserves a Pulitzer Prize!	8/2/2000
Reviewer: A reader from Berkeley, CA USA
I just read this book this week and can't say enough great things about it. It blends the story of a person and a spiritual path so deftly that you will be draw in on sheer readability and enlightened about this wonderful teacher's sometimes hilarious life story (and many times lightheartedly profound) without even noticing. I hated the author's former book and couldn't stand to read it after the first 20 pages, so it took an act of courage to pick this one up. But I am happy to say either he has learned a lot or he's had a great editor or both, because with this book, he seems like he was born to write it. There is a wonderful sense of humor that comes from Suzuki-Roshi's life and attitude - that belies the seriousness of the topic and book. So few Zen books are really approachable for mere humans (which is not the way it should be). This book demystifies all that needs demystifying about Zen - and you will have a LOT of FUN reading it, too.

Classic Autobiography (about an ADD Zen master?! )	7/8/2000
Reviewer: A reader from Woodstock Hyperreality
David Chadwick's biography is a balanced, sensitive, well-researched and altogether inspired account of a spiritual master who was every bit as human as he was enlightened. This is the kind of biography that puts the spiritual path in proper perspective. Suzuki Roshi's life exemplifies the oft-neglected principle that the most profound way to be is just to be yourself. One fascinating aspect of Suzuki Roshi's personality is that it conforms very strongly to the profile of adult ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). This is not to suggest that there was anything "wrong" with him -- but it might help explain what was undeniably "different" and "special" about him. Suzuki Roshi was a remarkably creative, dynamic and talented person in many ways. All the same he could be aggravatingly, even tragically, blind to himself; he was a major-league space cadet; he was restless and inattentive at some times and in some contexts, and amazingly focused in others; he was outstanding in many ways, but a chronic underachiever and late-bloomer in others. This does not prove anything but I'm sure that anyone who is ADD (as I am) or is familiar with the diagnostic critera for ADD will understand what I'm talking about, if and when they have the impulse to become engrossed in this superlative book. For myself I find it very inspiring that someone so similar to myself, in both good and bad ways, managed to accomplish such great things towards the end of his life. In any case, do read this book if you want to know the story of a great modern Bodhisattva! Gassho!

Does zen have a history?	5/8/2000
Reviewer: Per from Zurich, Switzerland, Europe
The story of a zen master and his surroundings. Zen has no history and neither does Suzuki. He is a steady point in a play of parents, zen masters, second world war, man slauther and funny american zen students. He was a down to earth person but still a light house, a kind of a buddha next door. The book is half his japanese and half his american story, well researched and well written and therefore to recommend throughout

Another "failure" by David Chadwick	2/18/1999
Reviewer: A reader from Portland, Maine
In stereotypical Zen fashion, I don't wish to say too much about this book. I'd hate to spoil any portion of it for anyone. But please read this book. If you have already read the author's previous book, Thank You and OK, you already know what an excellent writer David Chadwick can be when he is poking fun at himself. (If you haven't read Thank You and OK, then please go get that book, too.) I was frankly surprised at what an excellent historian Mr. Chadwick was, when it came time to write entirely seriously, about someone else. Especially Suzuki, Roshi. I was a little nervous that this book might contain the type of gushing praise that has tended to be heaped upon deceased Buddhist teachers in America. But Crooked Cucumber offers a very balanced view of Suzuki Roshi, including not only stories that inspire one's admiration for the man, but also anecdotes that cause one to scratch one's head and wonder why he could be so infuriatingly fallible at times. As a result, I felt I could trust Chadwick's scholarship, and I wound up with a much more mature appreciation for this Zen "legend." I have already said way too much. But I predict that Crooked Cucumber will wind up being regarded as one of the best Buddhist books ever written.