A Life of Bliss

by Don Butler

As the timid travel editor of the Ottawa Daily Advocate, Bliss Browning has few friends, a failed marriage and a pathological fear of adventure. His sole claim to fame is his vast knowledge of the late opera diva Maria Callas. When someone purporting to be Callas contacts him from beyond the grave with an astonishing proposition, Bliss’s humdrum world is turned upside down. Travelling to Greece at the urging of the ghostly presence, he embarks on a most unusual journey, but what he discovers could be the key to his own salvation in this hilarious and hopeful modern-day fable.

Genres: Fiction

312 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2021

About the author

Don Butler is an award-winning Canadian journalist. He worked at the Ottawa Citizen, the leading newspaper in Canada's capital, as a reporter, editor and editorial writer for more than four decades. He is married to fellow journalist Christina Spencer and has two grown children – Sean Butler and Meagan Zucco. He also has two grandchildren, Téo Butler and Zoey Zucco. A Life of Bliss is his first novel. A sequel, Norman's Conquest, will be available in May 2024.

Reviews

[Montserrat Bouvier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me a while to warm up to the main character and nearly gave up pursuing the read but glad I kept at it as the second half had me totally engrossed. Living in Ottawa and having gone to Greece several times, I relished the familiarity.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't write reviews, pretty much ever. I'm not a writer, so I read instead. I met Don at a local Coles bookstore in Ottawa a few weeks ago. I was browsing the store, passing the time by looking for yet another book that would sit on my bookshelf, probably for months, if not years. I literally have over 100 books in my bookcase that I will someday get to. As I was browsing around looking for a copy of Crime and Punishment ( which they did not have btw) I saw this gentleman at the mouth of the store. The mall was pretty loud that day ( there was a stage just to the right a short distance away, featuring song and dance of an Asian flair) and I noticed Don standing there in front of a table hovering over his labor. My eye was immediately drawn to this display of books with a beautiful cover of blues, purples and a dash of various other colours. On my way out of the store I asked Don what the book was about. He began to describe, slowly at first, and perhaps with a little shyness. He soon began to unfold unfold for me ( with ever-growing enthusiasm ) a tale of mystery, friendship, hope and love. I could see from the glint in his eye the love that he put into this novel and found myself wanting to read his work if for no other reason than that alone. Boy oh boy! Am I ever glad I did. This book is beautiful! I cannot find another word to describe it. It is beautifully written, full of hope, love, faith in others and most importantly, faith in oneself.
Thank you Don for this beautiful gift that you have provided me. I will be reading this one more than a few times.
To those who may be thinking about buying this book, take a leap of faith, you won't be disappointed!

[Anne Trueman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I travelled from Ottawa to Toronto with author Don Butler many years ago. After a business meeting he and I stopped by the old Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street. I picked up a Maria Callas CD. On our flight home he described the story that is now “A Life of Bliss.” I was enchanted.

The book does not fail. It is rich with character, musings about choices, and the interconnected-ness of it all. Since I worked in the same newsroom as Don, I couldn’t help but use that shared POV as the backdrop, but we parted ways there. The story takes many delightful twists and turns and is equal parts mystery, history, and love story. The interaction between the main character Bliss Browning and Maria Callas is unusual to say the least, but it is all done with humour, and an achingly tender searching of the soul.

From Ottawa, to Greece, and almost Africa, you won’t be disappointed with this tale that turns Bliss Browning’s world upside down.

Quite in keeping with the Maria Callas mystery, I realized I finished reading this book on another flight back to Ottawa from Toronto. Co-incidence? You decide after you read this delightful story.

[Mark Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Life of Bliss was recommended to me by a Facebook friend and I took a chance on it because the cover intrigued me and because I'm a journalist. I didn't know what to expect, but it didn't take long before I thought I was reading a newsroom story by Alexander McCall Smith. Don Butler's gentle humour and perceptive writing brought to mind the same touches that Smith brings to the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. And then the story moves from Ottawa to Greece, and adds some evocative travel to its pages, all combined with the mystery that must be solved by the story's reluctant hero, journalist Bliss Browning.
If you appreciate good writing and a wonderful story, and you're the kind of person who wants to root for the underdog, and you've already read all of PG Wodehouse, then this is your book. I loved every page.

[Gary May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to sit down with someone you admire – a sports figure, a world leader, a social activist who has had a major impact on the world – after they have died? In Don Butler’s new novel, A Life of Bliss, Bliss Browning, a mediocre newspaper travel editor who hates to travel, is offered just that chance: to meet the great Maria Callas. How it comes about, and what Browning does with that opportunity, makes for a truly fun read.
Bliss Browning’s life is quite unremarkable and devoid of adventure, but all of that begins to change when, for some inexplicable reason, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Ranata Richter, takes a fancy to him and decides to send him on assignment to Africa. As enthusiastic about his unexpected assignment as a cat being led to water, Browning jumps at the chance to head off in a different direction, to crack a mystery and pursue a woman whose own life seems to read like a melodramatic operatic tragedy.
Laced with a liberal shot of humour, A Life of Bliss is written rather like a breezy mystery, one made for light summertime-at-the-cottage reading. On one level that is precisely what it is. But not far beneath the surface, Butler serves up a more cerebral dish, one brimming with fascinating material about the world’s foremost opera diva and off-the-beaten track travel to Greece. Not being particularly familiar with either, I found the lesson an entertaining one.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, perhaps 3 ½ stars but, that can be so subjective. I had some problems with this book, mostly because of genre-confusion.
And what a curious genre-defying novel this is: part mystery, part humour, part speculative fiction, part travelogue, part love story, part life-affirming transition, and certainly part memoir, though which part is which is not altogether certain.
Still, Butler is a literate man, a superb command of English and to some agree life philosophy; this is a well-researched story, and if you ever wanted to know something about the original opera diva, Maria Callas, and for that matter the gritty parts of touristy Greece, this book will be an eye-opener.
My problem with the book is that I was asked to suspend too much belief to appreciate the story. I enjoyed the humour, and the injections of philosophy, but the rest of the genre bending left me confused and dissatisfied. I would have preferred he created a mystery story without the speculative fiction, kept the love story and the transitional themes, but less of the occult, and pages and pages of narrative of the blasted Peloponnesus featuring nereids was a few pages too many for me.
Overall, an interesting enough read from a crafty author. I'm sufficiently intrigued, despite my criticisms, to embark on the sequel, Norman's Conquest.

[Richard Schwindt · Rating 5 out of 5]

To the extent that we are defined by our intrepidity, Bliss Browning, travel editor of the Ottawa Daily Advocate, has washed out. For one thing, he doesn’t travel. It frightens him. His social life is thin and disappointing; one failed marriage, and one friend, albeit a good one. Bliss is not into risk. Amidst this pathos, he retains one weak grip on the divine; a passion for the music of Maria Callas. So when she contacts him from beyond the grave, Bliss is torn. On the cusp of an unwanted voyage to Africa, he is placed in a position where only risk and faith will allow him redemption. Poignant and comic; sad and inspiring; Life of Bliss has whiffs of Richler and Amis about it. Yet author Don Butler has fashioned something unique. He retains a veteran journalists’ readability, along with the depth of soul required to tell a moving story. Highly recommended with a glass of Ouzo and a vinyl recording of Maria Callas.

[Leo Valiquette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don Butler’s A Life of Bliss is part mystery, part romance, part ghost story, and wholly entertaining. This brisk story carries us from the raucous newsroom of an aging fictional newspaper (Butler is himself a retired journalist and executive editor), to Greek locales still haunted by entities of myth and legend. I was fully caught up in the twists and turns faced by Butler’s main character, Bliss Browning, as he turns his life upside down to help a “ghost” track down the son she had to abandon at birth.

But at its essence, this story is wholly down to earth. A Life of Bliss explores the flaws and frailties of real people, and the regrets that build over the paths we feared to take. It’s about finding the courage to have hope and to take a leap of faith, in yourself most of all, even if the odds are 50/50 between it going horribly wrong … or liberating you to live the life you were always meant to have. I highly recommend it.

[Ros · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first page of A Life of Bliss by Don Butler had me gasping and laughing out loud. From there, I had to overcome some doubts. I usually love hard-edged thrillers and there was not a body in sight. It became clear that opera, not something I enjoy, would play a role. And there were things I needed to suspend my disbelief about. I‘m glad I carried on. This book seduced me, with its coming-of-age story about a grown man, with its wonderful descriptions of the beauty and ugliness that live side by side in Greece and with its dead-on captures of the weird characters and politics of a newsroom. Don and I both spent more than 40 years in journalism, and his keen eye for detail and lyrical writing style made this book a pleasure to read. It’s funny — and there is a mystery at the heart of it.

[Kerisweetman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected to enjoy Don Butler's A Life of Bliss because most of the main characters are journalists, as I am, and it's partly set in the familiar chaos of a newsroom, with the usual cadre of eccentric personnel. But my love of this book goes way beyond that. This is a charming, funny, quirky story with a main character who will steal your heart, a tender love affair, a touch of the supernatural, a beautiful setting (who doesn't want to read about Greece?) and an important lesson about personal growth, self-confidence and being true to yourself. I hope there's a sequel.

[allother · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually read murder mysteries, but every once in a while I grab something else. This book was a great change from murder and mayhem.
Don Butler is a wonderful writer, he grabs your attention on the first page and doesn't let go.
I do believe that Maria contact him from the Great Beyond. And it's interesting to note that even the After Life has so many rules and regulations. How did Don know?
I look forward to reading his other book 'Norman's Conquest'.

[Jim Working · Rating 5 out of 5]

" A Life of Bliss " By Don Butler....is a pleasure to read. One of the most enjoyable books that I have
read in a very long time. There is a freshness to his writing. Real characters and a love of Maria
Callas. Highly recommended . Five Stars....

[Tim Mcgurrin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never really got into this book. It was predictable, but my main beef was the stereotypical newsroom team. This was close to becoming my first DNF of the year.

[Christina Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don Butler’s hapless hero, a timid newspaper travel editor named Bliss Browning, reluctantly embarks on a life-changing quest in Greece, a destination many of us would be delighted to go to. But Browning fears the wider world, so even one of the most alluring places on the planet proves a challenge to his fragile psyche. His adventures — and misadventures — in The Peloponnese are nonetheless heartwarming and humorous — and utterly authentic, since the author himself visited each locale and personally experienced more than a few of the anecdotes he weaves into this tale.

The first part of this novel is heavy on newsroom satire, also authentically drawn, since Butler worked for many years as a reporter and editor himself. Then the action moves smoothly into a travel adventure (tinged with tragedy); a ghost story (yes, the spirit of a famous person is a pivotal character); but mostly, a search for personal growth and openness to the wider world. The writing is witty, the characters often hilarious, and the narrative itself utterly charming.

It’s a cliché to call something a “feel-good” story, but I was smiling when I finished reading it. I’m usually this writer’s harshest critic (he’s my partner, and a frequent target of my harsh literary criticism) but I loved his first novel and so did the folks at https://www.ottawapressandpublishing..... The challenge will be getting him to write more.
--Christina Spencer

[Peggy Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastical mystery involving opera star, Maria Callas. Whetted my appetite to go to Greece and made me keep reading - well done!