Jeremy Occhipinti grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, middle-class, musical, prone to rebellion, and periodically ambushed by congenital health conditions that his body refused to warn him about in advance. He became a musician and a schoolteacher. He also found his way to Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Living, and that relationship became the thread running through everything else.
The memoir covers his life from birth to thirty-three with the same frank wit he apparently brought to every classroom. The rebellious episodes are here in full; so are the darker stretches when his health turned serious and the usual strategies stopped working. What redeems the difficult sections is not resolution but attention. Occhipinti pays close attention to his own experience, and the writing benefits. The India scenes are among the most vivid in the book, rendering places and encounters with the specificity of someone who was actually there and wants you to feel it.
A sequel, Dying to Live, will continue the story after three years of teaching in Saudi Arabia, when hereditary medical complications close in again. This volume stands on its own.
ABOUT THE BOOK:- Ain't That a Miracle? is an engaging memoir detailing the author's journey from a young child growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to a follower of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, an internationally known spiritual leader. Before discovering Gurudev's Art of Living courses, Jeremy Occhipinti, a musician, and schoolteacher, chronicles his middle-class childhood, health struggles, and college life in the early '90s. The author's exuberant personality flows through every page, from hysterical, rebellious episodes in youth to darker moments during bouts of congenital disorders, which caused his body to mutiny. Funny and frank while sharing his emotional highs and lows, the stories allow us to cheer on the development of Jeremy's musical talent and gift for teaching children. The colorful thread connecting the escapades and enlightenments of the memoir is the author's respect and love for Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the steady light in his decades of service and song. Connecting readers with heart-warming messages of compassion, service, and the value of meditation, the scenes in India are exceptional and vivid. While Ain't That a Miracle? chronicles Jeremy's life from birth to age thirty-three, the book's sequel, Dying to Live, will pick up where the first book left off. After three incredible years of teaching in Saudi Arabia, life takes a devastating downward turn due to various hereditary medical conditions and complications. Come along with Jeremy as he paints his portrait of a life filled with miracles and complementary opposites
.webp)
