An Obese White Gentleman in No Apparent Distress

by Riki Moss, Terry Dobson

Based on the life of unconventional aikido master Terry Dobson, this novel by his partner Riki Moss is the story of two souls meeting at a mutually calamitous turning point in their lives. Fatherless and pushed by his tyrannical mother to the edge of violence, Dobson turns to aikido to save his life. Twenty-five years later, he returns to the wreckage of his ancestral summer home on Lake Champlain feeling too tainted to train, too blocked to write, and too dispirited to deal with his declining health. He seriously considers disappearing into the icy waters, but instead drives through an ice storm and hits a cow in a cornfield where an artist is chasing her dog . . .

Told through two interwoven timelines—one following his life through Park Avenue and the Bowery, Vermont, Japan, and California; the other tracking his relationship with the artist—this profoundly entertaining novel features a memorable assortment of seekers and gurus (real and fictional), spiritual dogs, performance artists, psychic plumbers, New Age healers, suicidal parents, old lovers; Ronald Reagan, Robert Bly, Leonard Cohen, Ram Dass; and the land itself, as compelling as any character.

Genres: Martial Arts

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 2009

Reviews

[Riki Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, I wrote it! That was twelve years or a hundred centuries ago, so what do I think about it now? The voice is clear, the topic intriguing, the writing.....

When the book was published in 2009, because it was a fictional account of a real life Aikido sensei, it was promoted as an Aikido book, which is it not. Except in the sense of how a person's practice might interfere with or add to one's idea of one's place in the universe. I was fortunate to have Terry Dobson's stories on tape; what I did was create an audience for him, including partners, students, dogs, landscapes, history - everything fictionalized, although based in the real world of an 8 year relationship. When Richard Grossinger left (sold?) North Atlantic Press, the book went out of print. I didn't want to lose it, so I self published with a new cover meant to keep it far away from the sports section. And of course, when presented with the manuscript, I couldn't help but rewrite, and yes, the novel is better for it. Check it out at https://mutualgaze.com/blog/books/

[Deborah Barlow]

Written by my dear friend Riki Moss, this is a really moving and well written fiction/nonfiction exploration. I'm loving it.

[David Rush · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I am curious about Dobson as a person I really read it for any Aikido stories of which there was enough to keep me interested.

[Sara Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really glad I read this book.