Breakfast at the Victory

Donna Seaman

Part memoir, part spiritual meditation, this plainspoken yet brilliant consideration of manifestations of the divine in everyday existence distinguishes between the ego and the soul and celebrates life's one constant: change. Carse draws upon personal experiences to illustrate his insights, beginning with his observations of the proprietor of the Victory luncheonette in the East Village. A vet who lost a leg in combat, Ernie serves his customers with fluid energy and grace, working and cajoling his way through life with a minimum of resistance or resentment. As Carse recalls his own Wisconsin youth, including an unforgettable description of sailing Lake Michigan by starlight, he ponders the speechlessness of animals and the verbosity of humans, the roles of teacher and student, and the fact that there is no end to knowing. As he remembers the deadhis wife of 37 years and his brotherCarse muses on how easily we confuse religious practice with God, knowledge with understanding, and our visible, public selves with inner truth.