Some wise person created the cliché that life is the stuff that happens while we're busy making other plans.
That remark perhaps was one of the reasons that Robert A. Alper wrote his wonderful but awkwardly titled, Life Doesn't Get Any Better Than This: The Holiness of Little Daily Dramas (Triumph, $12).
For Alper, life becomes a succession of daily occurrences that, upon reflection, can provide guidance in achieving a real, down-to-earth holiness.
Although you'd not get the idea from such a mouthful of a book title, this modest looking paperback contains some of the most engaging, beautiful, and life-affirming stories I've read in years.
Alper, perhaps the nation's only rabbi who also works regularly as a standup comic (yep, he's really both!), demonstrates the depth of his faith through a broad spectrum of stories that illustrate thoughtful conclusions about God and religion.
In the introduction, Alper writes that he believes there is a God, "because on various occasions I've heard babies giggle. That's proof enough for me. . . . I can't believe that babies giggle because of a cosmic accident. I believe a baby's sound is a divine creation, as are the mountains and all else in the universe."
The 44 short chapters in the immensely readable text proffer wisdom in huge increments, spiced with generous servings of humor. Alper has that marvelous ability to capture the essence of life. Despite its tragedies, its hits and misses, Alper contends that life's something to hug, a precious commodity that sometimes seems vastly unfair. But it should be clear that there's good to be found more often than we imagined.
I've gotten to know Bob Alper through exchanging e-mail messages over the past few weeks. When he learned that I reviewed books for several publications, he asked if his publisher could send a copy of the book. I never turn down a book.
In the ensuing weeks, I've come to look forward to his witty, wise, wry and altogether welcome messages. Our electronic friendship has advanced to the point that my wife and I may meet the Alpers for dinner this summer, somewhere between Marietta and East Dorset, Vt., where he and his psychotherapist wife Sherri reside.
That said, my advice is to search out Life Doesn't Get Any Better Than This, one of the all-too-rare inspirational books I've found worth recommending.
Thank you, Rabbi. Heard any good jokes lately?
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