Lunch with Buddha (Merullo) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
[A]lternately hilarious and poignant...Merullo's detailed descriptions of the American Northwest keep the writing  grounded even as its themes turn increasingly spiritual.  Merullo doesn't try too hard to prove any spiritual points, however.  As a result, Lunch is a moving yet entertaining and never histrionic account of how an ordinary American family—with a few extraordinary members in its ranks--deals with the overwhelming grief of losing one of their own.
Tricycle: The Buddhist Review


Lunch with Buddha examines questions that crop up sooner or later for many (most?) of us. Although Volya's wise lectures are helpful to Otto's search for answers, it is the variety of people they meet-and the attitudes [they] carry-that are what provide Otto with the evidence and reminders and motivation to decide to live a certain way.... Reading Merullo's novel, I couldn't help but think of Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman—their great reverence for independent, passionate, non-conformist thought-the different drummer-but never without the accompanying respect for it in others.
Salem News


[An] engaging follow-up novel (Breakfast With Buddha, 2008).... Otto Ringling is a successful New York City editor who has built a happy, comfortable life with his family in the suburbs. But when his wife, Jeannie, dies, Otto's entire orbit is suddenly thrown off course. Along with his two college-aged children, his New-Age sister Cecelia, her eccentric, sort-of Buddhist husband and guru, Volya Rinpoche, and their enlightened 6-year-old daughter, Otto finds himself in the forests of Washington to spread his wife's ashes.... Volya teaches Otto how to let go.... One can't help but root for Otto, despite—or perhaps because of—his curmudgeonly tendencies.... [A] beautifully written and compelling story about a man's search for meaning that earnestly and accessibly tackles some well-trodden but universal questions. A quiet meditation on life, death, darkness and spirituality, sprinkled with humor, tenderness and stunning landscapes.
Kirkus Reviews