It's been a long time since a nonfiction book has made me want to put a "for sale" sign out in front of my house, sell it, and go on an adventure, due to the joy and heart of an author. I remember Jack London thrilling me with his words about sailing to the south Pacific and other adventures, aside from his story telling. I thought he was the most adventurous person of his time. I wanted to know him. Unfortunately, he was long dead when I was born into existence.

There have been a few other authors who have given me this feeling of letting it all go and strike out on the path more interesting and challenging. To hell with the outcome! Unfortunately, again, I haven't let that feeling drive me to that reality. Now come Fischer's book, Shattering the Crystal Face of God, Adventures in An Emerging World, and although I read the original draft and tried to help find typos and errors (which are still nestled in this book, begging to be routed, but do nothing to take the edge off Fischer's words) I reread the finished product over night, until my eyeballs felt as if they'd been turned inside out and dragged through sand.

There are thirteen chapters in this book of 180 pages. Each one begins with a quote by an author Fischer felt worked with the chapter. "Tripper," as the author acknowledges he would rather be called, takes us on his kayaking trips, road trips, hiking trips, surfing, and most of all his head trips. He explores his feelings in the natural world that he has found difficult, if not impossible, to explore in the mundane survival life in cities. Yet in this very dislike of cities and our cultural comforts that drive him to seek out his worth and value on the coastal shores of California, and in the foothills of the Sierras. Fischer can be infuriating at times with his views, but never dishonest. You don't have to agree with him. But there is too much of value in this book to shuck it off because you don't like his religious views or his outlaw rebellion against man made laws. Tripper's love of nature, the ocean, trees, insects, fish, birds, you name it, comes off so real and caring, that you can feel it with him. You wonder at his impulses to paddle his kayak when any sane person would be inside by the fire, listening to the wind and rain outside, ditto on his hikes. Tripper is a real nature boy. And this book is his desire to share with the reader just how he feels, what he sees, and then reacts to in full force. I recommend this book to anyone who has wished that they were more than an armchair traveler, to those who understand the pull of getting away from it all, and to give attention and praise to a man who has told his story with joy, intelligence, and a profound curiosity.

Annie Menebroker

Jan. 16, 2001

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