Title: Odyssey of a Gemini: Autobiography of a Baby Boomer
Author: BK
Publisher: DMA Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-578-10436-2
Pages: 340, Paperback/Kindle
Genre: Memoir/Biographies
Reviewed by: Jason Lulos, Pacific Book Review
Book Review
BK’s memoir is quite absorbing, a chronicle of one Baby Boomer’s life amidst the historical backdrop of the 1950s to the present. Indeed, all periods of history, in any context, can be said to be transitional. But the fact is that this period in American history was a particularly significant transition in terms of culture, politics, and national identity; this all parallels BK’s transitions throughout his life and perhaps more significantly, this parallels the constant flux and transition between the dual roles of his personality. This duality is not some split personality; rather, BK’s duality is what everyone goes through . . . to varying degrees. Hence, the title. A Gemini, a twin personality, each side supplementing (not battling) the other side. In BK’s case, the usefulness of having two ways of looking at and going about life has manifested in successes and failures. An often clamorous, but very full life, this autobiography is both turbulent and pleasantly reflective. As BK puts it in the opening pages, “My life has been an interesting mix of summer breezes and hurricanes.”BK’s life begins in Maine, a relatively normal introduction to life. By his teenage years, the vividness of his tale emerges with his first successful/turbulent career as a drug dealer. This phase alone, because of the suspense and danger of such an occupation, could make a book. From this point on, BK meets with successes and failures which are both extreme, resulting in a tenuous yet dependable balance of highs and lows. Although this duality of his personal life is the main philosophical theme running throughout the book, the story of his life is almost always reflective. Such is the nature of an autobiography, but BK had (again, dually) reflected on the present while living for the present.
After too many dangerous encounters in the drug world, BK finds most success as a chef/restaurateur, working in a variety of different positions and places. Some of the more tragic episodes of his life seem overwhelming, and they are. But BK does buffer such events with a calm, somewhat existential, frame of mind which suggests another balance of reflection and quiet satisfaction. Regrets would only be indulged in order to learn from them. To be sure, BK was not one to passively drift through life. He was ambitious: sometimes capricious, sometimes calculating. The results are quite interesting for a so called “average American.”
The variety of BK’s experiences and his reflective tendencies are what makes the book compelling. The prose is verbose at times; at other times, poetic. A decent autobiography clearly paints a nuanced portrait of a life. But a better autobiography is one that makes the reader consider similar reflections in his or her own life, and Odyssey of a Gemini succeeds in that respect.
