Goodreads asked Neal Rabin:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Neal Rabin I thought about one of my favorite books, Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha. Hesse structured the evolution to Buddha tale as an archetypal Hero’s journey, but it is also a classic story about deep, lifetime friendships that we all hopefully have. Siddhartha and Govinda were childhood pals, after all—their paths may diverge, but their lives remained intertwined.

I also love cheesy and classical old “buddy” films—Laurel & Hardy, Hope & Crosby, Martin & Lewis, even Farrell & Wahlberg. As a former comedy writer, I know that humor is one of the most powerful pathways into the human heart. The combination of both thematic elements became a rich opportunity to create an entertaining mix of inadvertent hero’s journey sprinkled with enough humor to make the inevitable misadventures both entertaining and relevant.

When I work with younger entrepreneurs and business people, common questions I receive are: “Am I on the right road?” or “What’s the right decision at this juncture?” That dovetails into a life question around the same issue. Have I chosen the “right” path? Siddhartha constantly asks that question, and it’s a rich theme for my own life as well. And so...

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