A Monk Jumped Over A Wall by Jay Nussbaum (Review)

Released July 2007 (Toby Press) * 352 pages * ISBN 13: 9781592642014

A Monk Jumped Over A Wall is a lovely read. On the surface, it is the story of J.J. Spencer, a newly minted lawyer reluctantly climbing the corporate ladder. A few minutes, a simple act of kindness during a chance encounter, result in J.J. Spencer losing everything. He’s beaten, arrested driving drunk, fired and then it gets bad. But the book is not about that.

The book is about what happens after. It is about finding what you need out of life and what happens when you don’t go out and look for it.

I really enjoyed this book. If you read it just for the story that’s enough. But if you find yourself somewhere other than where you wanted to be in your life right now, it will speak to you on a deeper level without bludgeoning you with any morals or ideals.

To give you an idea of the writing, here is my favourite passage:

“I no longer inhabit a world that tolerates people born without the capacity to deceive. The world I’ve chosen regards such people as children, with no idea of how the world really works. These children, meanwhile, regard the inhabitants of my world as pitiable cynics who happened one day upon their last remaining hope clinging by its fingernails to the edge of the abyss, adn decided with great weariness to just stomp the damn hand. If only I felt at home in either world, maybe I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.” (pg. 71, ARC)

I picked this book up because I’m searching right now, and I’m sick of reading non-fiction on the topic. I wanted an escape. I wanted a fictional world for a while where the problem has been thought through and orchestrated by the author. I wanted to see how someone else worked the problem out, another perspective since it’s such a universal search.

I’ll be reading the book again both for the story and the reminder to go out and find what I need out of life. Highly recommended.