cover image I Didn’t Believe Any of This Hippie Dippy Bulls**t Either: A Skeptic’s Awakening to the Spiritual Universe

I Didn’t Believe Any of This Hippie Dippy Bulls**t Either: A Skeptic’s Awakening to the Spiritual Universe

Julie Rasmussen. Red Renegade, $14.95 trade paper (198p) ISBN 978-0-692-08090-0

This irreverent debut spiritual memoir delivers evocative humor but never gets much below the surface. The primary arc concerns the author’s growing understanding of her connection with her “twin flame,” a person with whom one shares a type of soul connection that she says is much rarer than that shared by soulmates. Although Rasmussen is sure that Bo, whom she met through an online dating service, is her twin flame when the book opens, the relationship remains in flux over the course of her mystical awakening. Readers will enjoy her clever imagery and snarky self-analysis but in the end will find coincidence-loving Rasmussen (she sees signs in license plates) as remarkably gullible. The story of her on-again-off-again relationship with Bo and his spiritual growth path is unsatisfyingly incomplete. Although Rasmussen professes a belief in a connected universe, there isn’t much clarity in her assertion or proof in her personal story to back up her claims. The author’s foul-mouthed humor helps make this entry stand out among other spiritual memoirs, but the derivative message and excessive confidence with which Rasmussen offers herself as a spiritual model make this a poor source of guidance. (BookLife)