BOOKS
Soul of the Heel
There is an old Yiddish proverb that Scott and Jessica would have done well to heed. Mensch tracht, und Gott lacht. Man plans and God laughs. They thought that quitting their jobs, leaving a comfortable penthouse in Pittsburgh, saying good-bye to family, friends, and their mother tongue and moving to a little olive farm in Puglia, the “heel of the boot,” would be as easy as breaking a really expensive wine glass. And God laughed.
REVIEWS
“Soul of the Heel” is one of the best memoirs I have ever read. With good humor and a knack for suspense, Scott Bergstein takes us step-by-exciting-step through his and his wife Jessica’s labyrinthine project of pulling the plug on their life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and inventing a new life on an olive farm in the Puglia region of Italy”
“If you do one thing before deciding to sell your house and belongings and move to Italy, read this book!! The Soul of the Heel is the story of one couples quest to quit the rat race in the US and reestablish their lives in bucolic southern Italy. The story is engaging, funny, sad, joyful, and truly entertaining. Bergstein’s writing style helps you enjoy the journey as if you are experiencing everything with him. This could be a travelogue, or a love story. Or a book about the incredible wines and food of Italy. However you categorize it, it’s worth reading. In fact, the hilarious insights into the Italian bureaucracy alone are worth the price of the book”
Mis(s)pellings
Sean Burke’s comfortable, if unfulfilled life is turned upside down when he is informed that he, as one of two heirs to the magical power of Aleister Crowley, must become a world-class sorcerer and save humankind from destruction. His task: to defeat his cousin, Ataturk Skeevers, Crowley’s other heir before he completes the spell that will open the gates of Hell. But first Sean must learn to believe in magic. Join Sean on his harrowing and hilarious global quest to find the skills necessary to save the world and the love he needs to survive the journey.
REVIEWS
““Mis(s)pellings” treats us to a non-stop magical ride as Sean Burke evolves from a diffident layperson to an empathetic practitioner of the mystic arts. Burke’s boot camp of wizardry continually shifts him from country-to-exotic-country and mentor-to-wise-mentor in a race against time to save the world. If you thrill to the stories of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, as well as Nicolas Cage’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and “National Treasure,” you will surely have a grand time with “Mis(s)pellings: A Magical Comedy”
““Mis(s)pellings,” Scott Bergstein’s first novel, is simultaneously credible and fantastical in its vivid descriptions of real worldly and other worldly people, places, and events. The plot unfolds in quirky, funny prose. The saints are divine and the sinners oh-so-nasty. The clash of good versus evil has never seen such a fiendishly amusing parade.”