Sex Death Enlightenment: A True Story

by Mark Matousek

A self-confessed cynic and nonbeliever, who had overcome a troubled childhood and found success and the high life at Interview magazine, describes his painful spiritual awakening, founded on the principles of mystery, passion, sacredness, and bliss

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Spirituality, LGBT, Biography

261 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 26, 1996

About the author

Mark is a bestselling author, teacher, and speaker whose work focuses on personal awakening and creative excellence through self-inquiry and life writing. He brings three decades of experience as a memoirist, editor, interviewer, survivor, activist, and spiritual seeker to his penetrating and thought provoking work with students. His workshops, classes, and mentoring have inspired thousands of people around the world to reach their artistic and personal goals.

He is currently working on a book about friendships and relationships that is set to be released in June 2013. Stay tuned!

Reviews

[Brook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a surprise! I found it on the stoop in Park Slope as many folks leave things for the taking - I was attracted by the title, but assumed the actual read would not be as captivating. I was wrong. I really enjoyed this eye-opening, fast-reading book. This man's spiritual path erupted in front of him like a skinned panther dropped from the sky - the disgust for the excesses of the NYC, Andy Warhol-worshipping, HIV-panicked, magazine-admiring 80's. A biography woven by heartache, abuse, idolatry, friendship, soul-searching, and metamorphoses is highlighted by the boundless capacity in each of us. There were so many pages I wanted to go back to with really eloquent and poignant messages that I will probably end up just reading it again.

On enlightenment: “The truth is so bright that it blinds the eye of reason. The ego-centered mind cannot fathom the immensity.” And "The mind cannot register what is beyond the mind."

[Gini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book 16 years after it came out, and only wish I had read it 16 years earlier! I knew the author briefly in the 80s, and as he himself describes his outer persona, thought of him as a celebrity interviewer and chaser of glitz. Goes to show how little you know anyone. His memoir traces the indecencies of his childhood, the hollowness of existence in NYC, his nurturing of his best friend weven as she is dying, and how, regardless that life is a death sentence, everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly, is worth it. I need to stop writing in case I make it sound New Age or flaky, It would truly be an injustice to deter anyone from reading this remarkable work.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Matousek describes his earlier self as "a little crazy, not clinically, just overintense, compulsive, prone to a variety of erotic addictions and narcissistic mood swings - euphoria to despair in three seconds flat". In this memoir, he describes his journey back, through a most unlikely route. It is the time when the scourge of AIDs was something new, and not yet well managed. Matousek is rescued from what seemed a path of inevitable self-destruction, and rises to giddy heights working for Andy Warhol, who is not only "the most famous artist in the world", but whom he also describes as "the grand vizier of meaninglessness". Eventually he gives up the fame and fortune, running off, with his latest lover, to India, skeptical, but in search of meaning and enlightenment. The path is a rocky one, with many apparent dead ends. En route, he must confront many demons, himself and his family included. But he is resilient and honest, with himself and with his readers. You'll want to finish this book all at once.

[Rena Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was exactly what I needed to read to give me an added boost of bravery for my own writing. I love Mark's clear-minded style and ability to forge through every potential discomfort without squirming or backing down. This is someone who came from some seriously weird places but knew enough to believe in his talents to just keep writing.

From Andy Warhol and the 1980's AIDS menace in NYC to Ladakh and Mother Meera in Germany, the reader gets taken on an exhilarating ride. In the tribe of Visionary Nomads (a term his friend Eve Ensler uses), Mark's voice rings loud and true. This is a bold book that I would recommend to anyone interested in memoir, spirituality or both.

[Mernie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been seeking out memoirs with spiritual growth as a theme (since I just wrote one). This was a powerful journey through the shallows of the 80s to a deep, dark ocean of sadness and self exploration to occasional, idyllic islands of transcendence. Mark's writing is a full orchestra of tone and rhythm, so this book is a joy to read. Between his journalist's ability to ask important questions and a cynic's unwavering need to find answers, the narrative rings true throughout. Sex Death Enlightenment is inspiring and painful in equal measures. This author has a great big heart and an enormous talent.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just completed an online writing class, Writing as a Spiritual Practice, with the author and wanted to read his book. I was absolutely blown away! I didn't really know anything about Matousek when I took the class, and I am amazed by his story--amazed and inspired and humbled.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

i got to the part about his guru in germany and i started to cry. i was on a plane. this is a powerful story, well written.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am currently re-reading. I read it when it first came out, and loved it recommending to friends...somewhere along the way my copy never made it back to me. I bought the new edition with new forward. This is a beautiful book - get your own copy!

[Hollie Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent book but by my own rating standards I gave it a three because I cannot yet distinguish if the book itself is good enough to get a four, or if I am just a enamored of the author at the moment.

[Samantha Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few books have touched me as this one did. A must read for the spiritual seeker.

[Mary K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honest, sad, hopeful and well-written. I loved and related to many of the author's transcendent experiences in so many religions, but was saddened that the religion we share offered him nothing. Not his fault. It is ours.

[Maddie]

How do you start reading?

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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