The Why Cafe
by John Strelecky
Published by Lifelong Books/Da Capo Press
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Reviewed by Michele Heather Pollock
"An unexamined life is not worth living for man."
Socrates said this, and John Strelecky seems to agree. His first book, The Why Cafe, is about a man named John who, lost both literally in his car and figuratively in his life, stumbles upon a small restaurant in "the middle of the middle of nowhere." Everything about the place is unusual, including the menu, which offers up not only hearty breakfast portions, but also food for thought. Why are you here? it asks, and John discovers this accidental detour will have broad-ranging implications for his life.
In his preface, Strelecky suggests that he actually took this mystical detour and that The Why Cafe actually exists somewhere. While the story seems almost too pat and strange for that to be true--more like something out of a Twlilight Zone episode than real life--a feeling of possibility pervades this small book, a notion that something happened to John, something that allowed him to see life a little differently and live it accordingly. Whether his journey was literal or figurative probably does not matter in the long run, if the result is this story that allows us to follow him.
The Why Cafe may not break new ground in regards to its ideas--the need to examine our lives and determine their purpose--but it does approach these ideas in a new way. This is a self-help book, complete with inspirational anecdotes, questions for examination and even an acronym (PFE stands for Purpose for Existing). But it is also a story, a fable of sorts, about a particular man at a particular place in his own life. The few characters, a chef, a waitress, another customer, and John, are interesting and individual. While the message of the book is clear, we arrive at it not through bullet points or graphs and charts, but by observing a man on his own journey and, perhaps, by recognizing in him a bit of ourselves.
Armchair Interviews says: You also may recognize yourself in The Why Cafe.