PARADISE PARK, Allegra Goodman's follow-up to her critically
acclaimed novel, KAATERSKILL FALLS, is about one woman's spiritual
journey that covers over 20 years, several relationships, and a
handful of religions. The term, "spiritual journey" might sound a
little heavy, but as far as main character Sharon Spiegelman is
concerned, it's not. Sharon is desperate to find a deeper meaning,
so she turns to God, in varying cultures and religions, to search
for enlightenment. Every time she thinks she has found the answer,
it falls from her grasp and she is forced to start over. Despite
the number of false starts and abruptly ended relationships,
Sharon's spirit is ever buoyant, and her sense of humor travels
with her from state to state. It sounds like it would be an
uplifting and quirky novel, and at moments it is, but more often
the quirks become irks.

According to one of the reviews, PARADISE PARK is a "tragicomedy"
and in a sense it is. Even when Sharon faces spiritual and
emotional malaise, her sense of humor still shines through, but
that doesn't make up for her ultimately frustrating character, who
I often felt the urge to grip through the pages and shake
(unfortunately, one of her boyfriends feels the same way and acts
on this). Sharon is desperately searching for enlightenment by
embracing the cause, religion, or man, closest to her. At the start
of the novel Sharon is feeling rather low, having been just
abandoned by her blinky eyed hippy boyfriend, also her folk dancing
partner, with whom she traveled to Hawaii after dropping out of
college. Just 20, estranged from her divorced parents and without a
friend in Waikiki, Sharon takes her few possessions --- which
include a macramé bikini, a guitar, a couple of Indian gauze
skirts, and her grandfather's silver watch --- and starts her
adventure that spans 20 years.

After the folk dancer leaves her, Sharon follows many different
paths. First she journeys to an island to study birds, then ends up
prancing around naked in the rain forests of Hawaii, growing pot
with her new boyfriend. When that doesn't pan out she tries
exploring religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism, to
name a few, then attempts to go academic and get her BA in
religion. It's hard to keep up with Sharon and her shuffling of
causes, boyfriends, and religions. To be fair, she has had little
support throughout her life --- from her alcoholic mother who
abandoned her at age thirteen, to her thrice married father who
doled out reprimands and rules but no love, to a series of
dimwitted boyfriends. It makes sense that Sharon is seeking love,
acceptance, and the divine, but that doesn't make her flighty
journey any easier or enjoyable to follow.

Many times I felt more like a beleaguered traveler and exasperated
friend than an entertained reader. Maybe it's because I have fancy
free friends with threads similar to Sharon's running through their
own macramé bikinis, or maybe it's because Sharon's life, and
Goodman's artful but relentless description of it, is tiring all on
its own. When Sharon finally does fall in love --- for real --- I
don't quite believe it at first. I'm not sure if it's because it
happened so fast, or that I was expecting her love to wane as it
did for so many men and religions before. It's a relief that Sharon
finally does settle down, however out of character it may seem, as
she comes full circle back to Boston 20 years later.

As maddening as her escapades had been throughout the novel, there
is something so simple and beautiful about the last page that makes
the journey worthwhile. The wandering woman has come to terms with
herself and is finally able to enjoy life --- enjoy dancing, the
feeling of grass beneath her feet, and the lyrical music. While she
twirls, she sings and, for the first time in her life, she knows
the words and her place in the world.