Review: 'Kat Mandu' book enters brave new world of holistic confusion
LEE GOODEN, For The Saratogian
10/15/2002
The first things one notices about this book, besides the big black letters in the title ''Kat Mandu,'' is the medium-sized black ''Ha-Ha's.''
There are seven of them on the book's spine. There are seven more ''Ha's'' in small green letters at obtuse angles, followed by more exclamation points, on the book's cover.
Carla Gandy of Saratoga Springs wants us to believe that these ''Ha's'' are nothing more than abbreviations for Holistic Advertising. Any reader that sees the letters H and A next to each other will obviously think of laughter. Gandy bids us to not only laugh, but to laugh loudly.
Once past the cover, the book opens to this interesting beginning:
''Kat sat. In silence. There was an air of Taoist peacefulness in her office. The quiet, however, belied her inner turmoil -- should she or shouldn't she have a second cup of coffee?''
''Kat Mandu'' is about Cooper James, a young traveler in her early 20s who, after a round-the-world journey, lands in the New Age Mecca of Maui. She becomes a nanny to three children whose father is a tyrant guru named Georgiou. He owns ''The Wailea Center for Healing of the Western Hemisphere Except For Costa Rica Which Has Already Been Healed. ''
Through an extraordinary number of coincidences, acts of faith, esoteric influences and through trial and error, Cooper leaves the job she hates, changes her name to Kat Mandu and starts her own center -- The Holistic Advertising Agency.
Kat Mandu's Holistic Advertising Agency is Gandy's homage to the late author Douglas Adams' bodies of work, the ''Dirk Gently Holistic Detective Agency'' series and ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' series.
Kat Mandu has passages where a reader might groan out loud at the corniness. It also has moments where one might snort, chuckle and belly laugh, especially when Kat first consults her channeling cat Cleo, discusses coffee ground readings, performs Uno Card tarot readings, and explores the uselessness of questionnaires. The story is amusing, and Kat is a wonderful foil for some of the oddities practiced in the name of the New Age movement.
Sometimes, though, it is difficult to tell if Gandy is entertaining or preaching. First the reader feels like they are reading something funny. Then, suddenly, Gandy takes herself too seriously and she sounds like Robert M. Pirisig's ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.''
She has excellent insight on the inner workings of the human psyche, but Gandy needs to find a balance. Is she writing satire, an autobiography, or a self-help book?
LEE GOODEN, For The Saratogian
10/15/2002
The first things one notices about this book, besides the big black letters in the title ''Kat Mandu,'' is the medium-sized black ''Ha-Ha's.''
There are seven of them on the book's spine. There are seven more ''Ha's'' in small green letters at obtuse angles, followed by more exclamation points, on the book's cover.
Carla Gandy of Saratoga Springs wants us to believe that these ''Ha's'' are nothing more than abbreviations for Holistic Advertising. Any reader that sees the letters H and A next to each other will obviously think of laughter. Gandy bids us to not only laugh, but to laugh loudly.
Once past the cover, the book opens to this interesting beginning:
''Kat sat. In silence. There was an air of Taoist peacefulness in her office. The quiet, however, belied her inner turmoil -- should she or shouldn't she have a second cup of coffee?''
''Kat Mandu'' is about Cooper James, a young traveler in her early 20s who, after a round-the-world journey, lands in the New Age Mecca of Maui. She becomes a nanny to three children whose father is a tyrant guru named Georgiou. He owns ''The Wailea Center for Healing of the Western Hemisphere Except For Costa Rica Which Has Already Been Healed. ''
Through an extraordinary number of coincidences, acts of faith, esoteric influences and through trial and error, Cooper leaves the job she hates, changes her name to Kat Mandu and starts her own center -- The Holistic Advertising Agency.
Kat Mandu's Holistic Advertising Agency is Gandy's homage to the late author Douglas Adams' bodies of work, the ''Dirk Gently Holistic Detective Agency'' series and ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' series.
Kat Mandu has passages where a reader might groan out loud at the corniness. It also has moments where one might snort, chuckle and belly laugh, especially when Kat first consults her channeling cat Cleo, discusses coffee ground readings, performs Uno Card tarot readings, and explores the uselessness of questionnaires. The story is amusing, and Kat is a wonderful foil for some of the oddities practiced in the name of the New Age movement.
Sometimes, though, it is difficult to tell if Gandy is entertaining or preaching. First the reader feels like they are reading something funny. Then, suddenly, Gandy takes herself too seriously and she sounds like Robert M. Pirisig's ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.''
She has excellent insight on the inner workings of the human psyche, but Gandy needs to find a balance. Is she writing satire, an autobiography, or a self-help book?
posted by Lee Gooden | 7:10 PM
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