“Nerdection Worth to Read”
Spoiler-free Plot
Travel with a sarcastic Texas A&M Aggie graduate student and share the life lessons he learns as he ventures into an alternative reality. In his adventure, he meets various characters – larger than life – from the three little pigs to Dr. Victor Frankl, Jesus, Huckleberry Finn, and The Big Bad Wolf. Each had their prophetic influence upon him.
In Professor McCord’s 3rd-floor lab, students let go of their certainty to enter this strange, exciting, and mysterious experience called Purposeful Dreaming – all for obtaining an “easy” A. This course changed this very shallow graduate student’s life forever.
My take on Paper on the Wind
Truth be told, this is something that was difficult for me to describe as a fiction or non-fiction book because of the disclaimer that it has before the story begins. This is by no means an attempt to disrespect author David Walton Earle but when considering his statement prior to the beginning of the book, it is fair to say that this effort is going to make people have divided opinions regarding its content.
Be that as it may, Paper on the Wind explores the concept of purposeful dreaming, which is basically a person setting their winds to what they want to dream about before they go to bed. It is a very peculiar topic and has been very divisive in psychology and science throughout the years, as Walton himself admits in the disclaimer, but also adds something interesting to this book, which is a lot of creativity and a strong visual element.
Paper on the Wind offers a lot of different situations and scenarios because of the element of purposeful dreaming, thus adding something different to each event that takes place in the story. While Walton states that the book is something he went through decades ago, that statement only makes the series as a whole a lot more perplexing to see, which is an element that could scare away some people while others may love it, so that, as it happens very often in art, is on the eye of the beholder.
On the other hand, Walton’s writing is smooth and easy to digest, so readers are very likely to be able to go through a lot of pages in a short amount of time. He also has something that a lot of writers struggle with, which is a knack for writing good dialogue, with most of his characters in this story having a strong and unique voice that makes them stand out from one another.
From my own personal perspective, that is the strongest element of the book since the dialogue really adds a lot of life to each event that takes place in the story. Something like “Are you prejudiced towards cats? You must be! You probably never knew a cat before, at least one that had a lick of sense and could talk. Why am I wasting my time with the likes of you?” would probably sound very out of place or forced in most other books but Walton manages to make it work, which is something that definitely deserves a lot of praise.
The book takes a lot of twists and turns but always maintains a certain line in terms of plot, which is a very welcomed decision. However, it is also worth pointing out that this book’s appeal depends a lot on the premise, which perhaps a lot of people may think that is the common issue with fiction in general (and they would be right), but this one has a very peculiar one, which is why that has to be taken into account.
It is a very fun read if people are looking for a more experimental story.
About The Author Of Paper on the Wind
David Walton Earle is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) who helps clients with anger management, substance abuse, compulsive gambling, anxiety, depression, and relationships. As a business coach, he combines his counselor skills with his twenty-plus years of executive management experience to create a powerful matrix for transferring leadership skills. He is also a teacher, trainer, author, coach, and alternative dispute professional.
Earle earned a Master of Science from Texas A&M and has held executive management positions in various fields, including industrial construction, private investment banking, and corporate troubleshooting. He is now the president of the Earle Company, an organization dedicated to change.
He has published seven books – four self-help books: Love is Not Enough (Changing Dysfunctional Family Habits), Simple Communications for Complicated People (Communication Made Simple), What To Do While You Count To 10 (Management of Strong Emotions); The Joy of Dysfunctional Families – Joke book, and a three-book trilogy of recovery poetry: Professor of Pain (A Lesson Before Living), Iron Mask (Peace Is Your Birthright), and Red Roses’ n Pinstripes (Despair to Meaning). The Wisdom of the Twelve Steps is a series of workbooks for the recovering community. He has also co-authored three other books – two on leadership: Leadership-Helping Others Succeed and Extreme Leadership, and a joke book entitled You Might Need a Therapist If…
Earle has been on the panel as a mediator and arbitrator for various organizations such as the U.S. Federal Court-Middle District, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the Louisiana Supreme Court. He was on the faculty of the University of Phoenix for over ten years.
He enjoys tennis and resides in Baton Rouge with his wife, Penny, and retired greyhound, Maggie.
My Life Will Change… When I Change™.
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