Everything is Happening at Once: A Memoir

by Jonathan Marcus

Wickedly funny, utterly physical, and fiercely intellectual Jonathan Marcus graduated from college and turned his attention to the real question.
What is this life about and how do you wring the most out of it?

Then he found a semi-secret group called The Work.

Led by the outrageous, brilliant, bombastic Jan Cox, simple but revelatory weekly “Tasks” fostered new ways of perceiving. All habits of mind and body were ripe for shattering. And crazy combinations of meditation, all-nighters, live theater, fasting, boxing, and astrophysics peeled away the walls of self.

But the conflicted Cox also spawned shock, betrayal, and consternation.

This nakedly honest and humorous account ushers you into a closed society hidden in plain sight: the joy and specifics of what worked . . . and what didn’t.

What tied Marcus to his chosen tribe of seekers? What did he get out of all this effort? How did it shape the rest of his life?

As one reviewer said,

“Go for it. Read this story. Let it simmer and seep into you until you squirm out of your comfort zone and then see what you can discover about yourself and others. Do it for the fun of it. You may just learn the most important lessons of your life.” 

330 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 13, 2018

About the author

JONATHAN MARCUS grew up in a middle class Jewish family and was draft-age during the Vietnam War. Like many young people during the late Sixties, he craved New Age consciousness and self-discovery.

Marcus earned a degree from Emory University. However, he was self-taught in all his careers and avocations: short order cook, welder, ranch hand, awning entrepreneur, performer, photographer and carpenter. For more than thirty years, he designed and built homes in the urban pioneer neighborhoods of downtown Atlanta.

His intellectual curiosity and spiritual yearning led him on a decades-long journey with the brilliant, iconoclastic Jan Cox, and The Work. Marcus’ first book, Everything is Happening at Once, is about those years. He is currently working on the sequel, due to release in Fall 2019.

Marcus is happy to live in Richmond, Virginia, as a writer, activist and community organizer. Follow the fun by signing up for his weekly short-read, Flossophy Friday, on his website at http://jonathanmarcus.org/mc4wp-form-...

Reviews

[Raina Casarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insights of a cult

Five stars really, but I skimmed the book. Not the author's fault. But to read this as some kind of truth no.
Being in Georgia it was interesting to know many of the places he talked about.
Well-written because of how he narrates his thoughts along his journey. And how he describes the leader's ways was chilling.
Just a great insightful read.

[Lynn DuLong · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time deciding how many stars to give this book. The writing is excellent and I can see why many people would find it fascinating and informative, but I found it repetitive and ... maddening. I really just wanted to bop Marcus upside the head and shout, " REALLY?? TWENTY YEARS??".

[Rochelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting memoir of a man's struggle to find himself. It is a good read but also kind of sad.

He starts on this journey because he doesn't want to be told what to think or believe, or to become a "lifer" in any organization...and yet...that is exactly what happens to him. He thinks, believes and acts only based on the Rules set out by Jan Cox. He stays in the organization for over 20 years...almost a lifer. It is only after the birth of his daughter that he finds the courage and strength to truly think for himself and allows himself to no longer be crippled by the meandering thinking of a megalomaniac.