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The Delight of Being Ordinary: A Road Trip with the Pope and the Dalai Lama
Roland Merullo's playful, eloquent, and life-affirming novel finds the Pope and the Dalai Lama teaming up for an unsanctioned road trip through the Italian countryside to rediscover the everyday joys of life that can seem, even for the two holiest men in the world, unattainable.
What happens when the Pope and the Dali Lama decide they need an undercover vacation? During a highly publicized official visit at the Vatican, the Pope suggests an adventure so unexpected and appealing that neither man can resist. Before dawn, two of the most beloved and famous people on the planet don disguises, slip into a waiting car, and experience the countryside as regular people. Along for the ride are the Pope's overwhelmed cousin Paolo and his estranged wife Rosa, an eccentric hairdresser with a lust for life who cannot resist the call to adventure - or the fun.
Against a landscape of good humor, exploration and spiritual delight, not to mention the sublime rolling hills of Italy, The Delight of Being Ordinary showcases the charming sensibilities of Roland Merullo (whose bestselling Breakfast with Buddha has sold over 200,000 copies), in a novel that makes us laugh as well as think about the demands of ordinary life, spiritual life, and the identities by which we all define ourselves.
What happens when the Pope and the Dali Lama decide they need an undercover vacation? During a highly publicized official visit at the Vatican, the Pope suggests an adventure so unexpected and appealing that neither man can resist. Before dawn, two of the most beloved and famous people on the planet don disguises, slip into a waiting car, and experience the countryside as regular people. Along for the ride are the Pope's overwhelmed cousin Paolo and his estranged wife Rosa, an eccentric hairdresser with a lust for life who cannot resist the call to adventure - or the fun.
Against a landscape of good humor, exploration and spiritual delight, not to mention the sublime rolling hills of Italy, The Delight of Being Ordinary showcases the charming sensibilities of Roland Merullo (whose bestselling Breakfast with Buddha has sold over 200,000 copies), in a novel that makes us laugh as well as think about the demands of ordinary life, spiritual life, and the identities by which we all define ourselves.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 11, 2017
About the author
Roland Merullo
39 books692 followersROLAND MERULLO is an awarding-winning author of 24 books including 17 works of fiction: Breakfast with Buddha, a nominee for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, now in its 20th printing; The Talk-Funny Girl, a 2012 ALEX Award Winner and named a "Must Read" by the Massachusetts Library Association and the Massachusetts Center for the Book; Vatican Waltz named one of the Best Books of 2013 by Publishers Weekly; Lunch with Buddha selected as one of the Best Books of 2013 by Kirkus Reviews; Revere Beach Boulevard named one of the "Top 100 Essential Books of New England" by the Boston Globe; A Little Love Story chosen as one of "Ten Wonderful Romance Novels" by Good Housekeeping, Revere Beach Elegy winner of the Massachusetts Book Award for nonfiction, and Once Night Falls, selected as a "First Read" by Amazon Editors.
A former writer in residence at North Shore Community College and Miami Dade Colleges, and professor of Creative Writing at Bennington, Amherst and Lesley Colleges, Merullo has been a guest speaker at many literary events and venues and a faculty member at MFA programs and several writers’ conferences. His essays have appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, Outside Magazine, Yankee Magazine, Newsweek, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Magazine, Reader's Digest, Good Housekeeping, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Merullo's books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, German, Chinese, Turkish, Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovenian, and Czech.
A former writer in residence at North Shore Community College and Miami Dade Colleges, and professor of Creative Writing at Bennington, Amherst and Lesley Colleges, Merullo has been a guest speaker at many literary events and venues and a faculty member at MFA programs and several writers’ conferences. His essays have appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, Outside Magazine, Yankee Magazine, Newsweek, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Magazine, Reader's Digest, Good Housekeeping, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Merullo's books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, German, Chinese, Turkish, Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovenian, and Czech.
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