As a participant in the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers program I generally read and review their business-related books. This time around, though, I decided to turn my attention to something slightly different. I thought it would be interesting to read a book by a man who seemingly had it all, only to have it come crashing down around him. I was specifically interested why he lost it all and in how he rebuilt his life based on his newfound Christian faith. Here, then, is my review of Ken Mansfield's Between Wyomings:

I'm not sure what I expected to find in Ken Mansfield's Between Wyomings, but I'm pretty sure that I didn't find it.

OK, maybe that's a little too over-dramatic. I do know what I was hoping to find, after all; interesting stories from Mansfield's years as a central figure in the music industry coupled with a re-examination of those years through the lens of his subsequent adoption of Christianity. What I actually found was a fairly decent travelogue interspersed with a few stories from his music industry years - most often inspired, according to his narrative, by songs he heard on his iPod - but very little attention to reconciling his past with the present.

For example, Mansfield wrote at length about his experiences as a follower of Gururaj Ananda Yogi. Here is how he recalled a particularly memorable mediation session with his Guru:

He remained in this position for the next hour - left elbow next to his body with the left hand reaching out - palm upward. The right arm was extended slightly above his head with that hand-facing palm out to us while reaching up like we used to do as kids in school when raising our hand to ask a question. After ten minutes more of staring at him in this stance I suddenly began experiencing the most extreme sense of joy I had ever known. This was replaced by an indescribable emotion of the deepest sadness I had ever encountered, tears streaming down my face. These feelings were followed in succession by equally intesnse emotional stirrings of peace, fear, warmth, and cold. Next, his entire body started glowing and a clearly definable aura surrounded his body - it was like those clear silver waves you see in the hot summer when you look down to the horizon point on an empty highway. It was at this point the event started opening up in a grand fashion. The air became saturated with wondrously brilliant celestial music, a symphonic offering beyond anything I had ever heard in any studio or in any state of behavioral enhancement. I was then drawn to the walls in the room. The heretofore beige-matted Spanish stucco walls had turned to gold and they were melting. For purposed of clinical clarification, my basic intake that day had been sprouts and yogurt.

An interesting and amazing tale to be sure. But it's a tale without an ending, as Mansfield never offers an interpretation of this mystic experience from his current perspective as a Christian. And this was not the only story in the book to suffer that fate.

That's not to say that he's not committed to his faith, or that Between Wyomings isn't an interesting read. And it's possible that I set the bar of my expectations too high. Regardless, the fact remains that the book left me entertained but slightly dissatisfied.