KARMA AND KISMET

Michael Shandler’s sixties and seventies spiritual odyssey catapults him across continents, cultures, and eras, after a turbulent childhood. KARMA AND KISMET is a wounded stranger’s testimony as he seeks reconciliation with his painful past and finding his people and place in new lands.

Shandler’s unflinching ride through the twists and turns of his karma is a personal and universal story of transformation, and a demonstration of kismet in shaping destiny.

“… thoughtful, emotionally forthright, and often engaging.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS

The Memoir Channel Interview

Niki Smart interviews Michael about how boyhood in a dysfunctional family during the apartheid era in South Africa provided powerful grist for his transformational personal journey. Karma & Kismet follows this journey from his unusual schooling, to mind expanding drug trips, to working with Ram Dass, to ultimately finding a way to re-connect with his father.

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Advance praise for KARMA AND KISMET

  • … The author's writing is characterized by its directness and a deeply personal touch. This authenticity not only makes for an intriguing narrative but also leaves a profound impact on the reader. Through the author's words, readers are able to connect with the vulnerability and authenticity of Shandler's journey, allowing them to share in the experiences and emotions that shape his story. <i>Karma and Kismet</i> is a journey of profound self-reflection, a quest for acceptance and tranquility in a world that at times appears hostile and unwelcoming.

    2024 WINNER Inspirational Nonfiction LITERARY GLOBAL BOOK AWARDS

  • … Shandler's writing, from the initial dramatic escape from his irate father to the transformative closing tributes, exudes remarkable authenticity and fervor, effortlessly immersing readers in the heart of his personal odyssey. With an authentic and passionate voice, he artfully unravels his tale, rendering it not only enthralling but profoundly resonant… an emotional rollercoaster featuring a cast of multifaceted characters. Readers are compelled to accompany him on his journey and his battle for inner serenity and self-acceptance… a quest across continents, seeking personal growth and ultimately finding serenity and spiritual fulfillment.”

    AMERICAN WRITING AWARDS 2024 FINALIST Nonfiction - Multicultural

  • A spiritual journey sends an author through three continents in search of inner peace and acceptance after a turbulent childhood and adolescence…. Shandler is a skillful writer who brings readers directly into his experiences…At one point, he vividly writes of his first psychedelic trip in 1968: 'The Mescaline journey has blasted me me into a profound new awareness of inner space, of being, of potential for healing, of psychological and spiritual growth.’ He’s also a meticulous chronicler of the times and places in which he lived, from South Africa under apartheid to an ashram in Canada where he studied yogic teachings. Shandler paints a detailed portrait of his pain due to his father’s rejection, his fear and anger when he faced antisemitism, his disappointment with the political wranglings in yogic factions, and finding his path to psychological peace and financial success. A thoughtful, emotionally forthright, and often engaging retrospective.

    Kirkus Reviews

  • … A rare memoir that grabs you by the scruff of the neck from its opening lines and takes you on a man’s personal adventure as he embarks on a search for love, acceptance, and a ‘forgiveness’ both longed for, and long overdue. Drama, conflict, pathos, passion, success and failure are the signposts that propel Michael Shandler on his unique journey of self discovery. A journey described with sensitivity, painful honesty, and an astuteness of observation that is the hallmark of a great writer… Absolutely unputdownable!

    STEWART ROSS CARRY Freelance Script Writer and Editor www.ScriptNav.com

  • Sometimes wry, sometimes sad, Shandler’s excellent memoir illustrates the power of persistence in overcoming childhood adversity in an engaging narrative that readers won’t want to put down.

    LAURIE PEARLMAN Ph.D. Trauma Specialist. 2019 Lifetime Achievement recipient, Trauma Division, American Psychological Association.

  • Michael Shandler’s descriptions of his remarkable life experiences are moving, vivid, deeply engaging, and touch on many aspects of our shared humanity. Shandler’s midlife reconciliation with his abusive father is an inspiring example of healing longstanding conflict

    Professor Emeritus ERVIN STAUB Founding Director THE PEACE AND VIOLENCE PROGRAM, University of Massachusetts.

  • …I enjoyed reading <i>Karma and Kismet</i> from beginning to end. What makes this story so compelling is the resolute courage with which Michael Shandler entrusts himself to the truth as the witness and arbiter of life’s meaning.

    JOEL AGEE Author IN THE HOUSE OF MY FEAR and THE STONE WORLD

  • … In the end, <i>Karma and Kismet</i> is a story of challenge, perseverance, resilience and triumph. As Shandler notes (in his Epilogue), ‘I am one of the lucky ones – one of those who escapes the confines of his karma and finds healing, love, reconciliation, purpose, and belonging. How was I able to overcome the life that was handed to me 'Karma and Kismet' Action and fate. God’s grace and human will, hand in hand... Finally, I’m filled with gratitude that I am no longer a link in the chain of abuse.

    EARL J. GLUSAC, M.D. Professor of Pathology and Dermatology, Yale University School of Medicine

  • ... An engaging, fascinating journey through realms that most people in fact rarely take the time to consider. But Shandler leads them there in a way that is immensely human, showing not just the seeking, but the flaws that come with it, the family dynamics, the politics that pervade even the most spiritually aspirational of places, and, in the end, the juxtaposition of the daily struggles of finding a living with the continuing search for existence, meaning and place. Shandler bridges the personal with the universal, and has created a well-written, accessible account of a life's path through exploration to a measure of contentment. We can all learn from that.”

    GREG FIELDS Author THROUGH THE WATERS AND THE WILD and ARC OF THE COMET

  • ... If ever there was the perfect teaching template for how to introduce the writer’s POV with a bang, this is it: ’Bam!’ and a few lines later, we’re hooked. The dialogue and the action, both so authentic in tone and the easy, fluid style of a natural storyteller, do exactly what they’re supposed to do. Character is plot, plot is character; joined at the hip and driving the story forward with such momentum we’re dragged along by the ear like naughty schoolkids…

    PAGE TURNER REVIEWS

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About MICHAEL SHANDLER

Author, life coach, organization development consultant, Dr. Michael Shandler’s boyhood in a dysfunctional family during the apartheid era in South Africa provided powerful grist for his transformational personal journey and professional training. Michael is the co-author with Nina Shandler of four books, including The Marriage and Family Book: A Spiritual Guide, and Ways of Being Together. Shandler is a former Principal and Partner at Arthur D. Little, London, and holds a master’s in counseling and a Doctorate in leadership and group studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Michael lives in western Massachusetts where he continues writing, counseling, cycling, being a husband and dad, and a grandpa of five incredible grandkids.

More Publications from Michael Shandler

Michael is the co-author with Nina Shandler of several non-fiction books, including The Marriage and Family Book, Ways of Being Together, Yoga for Pregnancy and Birth, and The Complete Guide and Cookbook for Raising a Vegetarian Child.

Shandler co-authored with Michael Egan, the graphic novel Vroom! Turbo-Charged Team-Building.

His chapter, “A Lesson in Leadership,” was published in the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work.