Rainn Wilson

I really wanted to like this book. And at first, I kind of did. Rainn Wilson starts out by talking about faith as something personal that each of us needs to discover for ourselves. That felt promising. I’m always on the lookout for a fresh take on spirituality, especially one that doesn’t rely on the usual “join a religion, find a leader, be part of a movement” approach. But somewhere around the halfway mark, things started to shift. What started out feeling open and exploratory show more turned into something closer to a religious studies lecture. And by the end, I was basically checked out.

I should probably say up front that I like Rainn Wilson. I like The Office. I think he’s earnest and genuinely wants to help the world.

Here’s where it lost me: there’s a heavy reliance on religious quotes and references throughout. Like, a LOT. I get the intent: he’s drawing from various traditions to make the case for unity and meaning. But man, it was hard to stay engaged with so many blocks of scripture and religious “history lessons,” especially when I was hoping for something more immediate and usable.

I went in hoping for some spiritual insight I could actually apply to my life. What I got instead was a lot of talk about large-scale institutional reform and global unity. Which, sure, sounds great in theory. But when the core message becomes “we need community, we need leadership, we need organized religion,” I start to check out. I’m interested in a more individualistic, more introverted approach to spirituality. One where you don’t have to save the world to matter. And Wilson seems to see that as part of the problem, which… okay, fine. But that’s not where I’m at, and it was hard not to feel like he was dismissing people who prefer to do their spiritual work quietly, on their own.

To his credit, he’s transparent about his beliefs, including his involvement in the Baha’i faith (which I’d honestly never heard of before and found interesting). And he’s not trying to sell that specifically, but it does color a lot of what he writes. The book leans heavily on the idea that we need to overhaul society from a spiritual perspective, and that can feel a little naïve at times. There’s a lot of emphasis on unity and connection, without much acknowledgment that we’re tribal for a reason, and that changing that would mean going against human nature.

Look, I didn’t hate the book, but I didn’t love it either. If anything, it reminded me how little patience I have for books that start off with big ideas and then backtrack into traditional structures as the only “solution.” I don’t need a movement. I don’t need a savior. I just want thoughtful, honest, grounded conversations about what it means to live a meaningful life. Quietly. Privately. On my own terms. show less

Rainn Wilson, best known for playing the uptight curmudgeon Dwight on The Office, is a very spiritual guy at his core. He started a company called Soul Pancake that produced feel good, spiritually focused content that Wilson couldn't sell to Hollywood. Soul Boom, his new book, makes the argument that we need a spiritual revolution in the world, one that pulls the foundational, shared lessons from all religions (ie, the Golden Rule and take care of the poor) and use them to craft something show more that gets beyond your god versus my god. I enjoyed it: Wilson has a freewheeling style of storytelling that makes his message more compelling. He himself is a lifelong Bahá'í, a relatively new religion that basically preaches what he writes about in this book. He demonstrates a wide ranging knowledge of the world's religions and their connections. It will be interesting to see if interest in Bahá'í grows as a result.

I have a copy of his memoir, The Bassoon King, on my shelf and am adding SoulPancake to my TBR. It was refreshing to read something upbeat and inclusive about religion and spirituality. show less

Clever but not precious autobiography by a truly original thinker. Humble and self-deprecating yet also searingly honest, Wilson is a delight. His quick wit and offbeat perspective is familiar to folks who follow him on Twitter, but so rarely do those bite-size observations translate into book-length coherency -- yet Wilson more than pulls it off. The chapters on _The Office_ are a must-read for any fans of that show, but the book goes far beyond and beneath Wilson's most famous character. I show more hope he writes another one! And I hope Mindy Kaling writes the forward! show less

When I read a celebrity biography/memoir, I'm happy to just get to hear about their upbringing, how they found success, and fun stories from their lives as celebrities. It helps when said celebrity is on a show I love, The Office, and I get to hear insights into the show. THE BASSOON KING did all of those things well and Rainn Wilson can tell a really good story. The book brought some much more, though, that I didn't even expect. Wilson looks at faith, art, love, and honesty and how those show more qualities are all entwined into a single being and he writes about how he is always delving deeper into how they all work together as one soul. He approached most things in his life with a passion and commitment and with patience, a lot of failure, and with a wonderfully supportive spouse, he found his way to LA, The Office, and the remarkable life he gets to lead now.
Coupled with a lot of spirituality and self-discovery, I also found myself laughing out loud often. From his vagabond youth, to his years living the seedy life of a struggling actor, to making it as a celebrity, Wilson has some great stories to tell. He has a knack for opening up the mind of the reader with a profound thought, be it an acting discovery, a faith-based challenge, or finding love, then dropping some sort of self-depreciating humor to balance the seriousness.
THE BASSOON KING is a fun read that will give the reader more than expected and I suggest it to everyone. show less