The Reflectionist

by Terry Tarnoff

It was a different time in a different world. Terry Tarnoff spent eight years during the 1970s traveling throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. It was the early days of exploring what were to become legendary spots on the traveler’s trail. Whether playing the clubs of Amsterdam, skirting the Yakuza in Japan, surviving the winters of Kathmandu, or forming a band in Goa, India, Terry’s adventures are alternately engrossing, hilarious and deeply moving.
"The Reflectionist" is Tarnoff’s long-awaited follow-up to "The Bone Man of Benares," a highly acclaimed book and play that told the first half of the story. "The Reflectionist" continues the tale, adding new meaning as it looks back from the perspective of modern times upon a period that continues to fascinate people of all generations across the globe.

291 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2016

About the author

Terry Tarnoff began his career as a writer at the tender age of twelve, when he was paid a penny a word to write phony letters to the editor of a small Milwaukee newspaper (he claims to have never matched that amount since, but that may be apocryphal). He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in psychology, then embarked on an eight-year journey that took him from Europe to Africa to Asia. Those experiences became the raw material for his first novel, "The Bone Man of Benares," which has been published in six countries and four languages, was produced as a play in San Francisco, and was optioned for a film project in Hollywood. Tarnoff's adventures and misadventures as a screenwriter became the basis for his second novel, "The Thousand Year Journey of Tobias Parker." His third novel, "The Chronicle of Stolen Dreams," explores inner space, outer space, and several spaces in between. His latest book, "The Reflectionist," reflects on the second half of his eight-year journey abroad. He lives in San Francisco, where he is working on his next novel. For more information, visit www.terrytarnoff.com.

Reviews

[Cheryl Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Reflectionist: A memoir of travel from the eye of the social hurricane of the 60s. A book written in funny, poignant, and poetic prose style that will keep the pages turning. A structure that intersperces memoir with interludes based firmly in the arboretum of Golden Gate Park where flights of fantasy reach imaginative heights worthy of the most baroque Hindu hallucination. These are the characteristics that kept me enthralled in Terry Tarnoff’s “The Reflectionist”. Some chapters could stand alone as perfect short stories. His journey runs its own very personal, unique course, yet all readers will be able to find a parallel universe of their own that will probably travel along with them as they read. Many belly laughs. Quite a few Wows. Moments of deep contact with this writer’s sensitivity. I strongly recommend reading this book, which continues in the tradition of his great “The Bone Man of Benares”.

[Michael Danzig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terry mounts up and rides again through the wild east of the 70's. There is great pleasure in encountering the plethora of amped-up characters -- including me (!) in a detour Terry made back to the west coast. It's all ripped out of yesterday's headlines -- Terry & David Bowie and me and "The Rose Window" -- all preserved in black and white till the end of time. Take it from me, "The Reflectionist" is an intoxicating romp through the mind and memories of Mr. Tarnoff, and a rollicking good read to boot.