Description
Joel’s first book tells a story that is at once strangely wonderful and true. Joel had been on the road traveling and telling stories for fifteen years when his own story took a sharp turn, and he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Though usually a treatable form of the disease (a “good cancer” – like a “jumbo shrimp,”) in Joel’s case there was a rare complication; When he awoke from surgery he discovered he could no longer speak. At first doctors thought the loss was temporary, but later they decided it was permanent. So it was Joel fell headlong into a story as bizarre as any he had ever told.
In The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness, Joel recounts the story of his journey, woven together with the tales he had collected in his travels – of beggars and kings, monks and tigers, of lost horses and found wisdom – to create what the San Francisco Chronicle called “Nothing less than a spiritual Odyssey.”
Since its original publication in 2003, it has been translated into 18 foreign editions, which you can see here. It is also currently in development as both a feature film and a musical. You can read reviews of the book by readers at Amazon.com, where you can purchase the book. Or, better yet, you might wish to pick up a copy at your local independent bookseller. Or, as long as you’re here at Storypage, you can buy copies directly and have them autographed. You can even have them personally inscribed for yourself and as gifts for others by adding a note to your order at checkout.
For readers who’d like to hear the story, it’s available as a audio book, with Joel narrating. The recording received an “Earphones Award” from Audiophile magazine – here’s their review. You can order four CD set here, as well as the other locations above, or download it through Audible.com at this link.
