In an age when the Dalai Lama's image has been used to sell computers, rock stars have used tantra to enhance their image, and for many, Nirvana calls to mind a favorite band, what can Buddhism mean to twenty-somethings? Blue Jean Buddha offers real stories about young Buddhists in their own words that affirm and inform the young adult Buddhist experience. This one-of-a-kind book was named a finalist in the 2002 Independent Publisher Book Awards (Multicultural Non-Fiction—Young Adult) as well in NAPRA's Nautilus Awards. It is about the experiences of young people in America — from their late teens to early thirties — who have embraced Buddhism. Thirty-three first-person narratives reflect on a broad range of life-stories, lessons, and livelihood issues, such as growing up in a Zen center, struggling with relationships, caring for the dying, and using marathon running as meditation. Throughout, up-and-coming author Sumi Loundon provides an illuminating context for the tremendous variety of experiences shared in the book. Blue Jean Buddha sheds light on the practices and experiences of young people striving to bring Buddhism into their lives.

A "twentysomething" American who grew up in the Zen Buddhist tradition, Loundon queried hundreds of her contemporaries in order to confirm that a generation of young Buddhists did in fact exist, to identify the challenges they face, and to define what it means to be a Buddhist in America today. She then asked 28 respondents mostly college-educated, self-identifying Buddhists in their twenties to write about how Buddhism has affected their self-transformations, life stories, and means of livelihood. This resulting collection of mostly brief, well-written, and interesting essays ranges from the poignant and inspiring (e.g., Jessica Morey's "Ordinary Awakening" and Seth Castleman's "If a Nice Jewish Boy Sits in a Cave, Does He Make a Difference?") to the sophomoric. Recommended as a secondary purchase for popular collections; more academic overviews of contemporary Buddhism in America can be found in The Faces of Buddhism in America (Univ. of California, 1998), edited by Charles Prebish and Kenneth Tanaka, and James Coleman's The New Buddhism (LJ 1/01). James R. Kuhlman, Univ. of North Carolina Lib., Asheville Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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• Religion & Spirituality
  • Buddhism