The Why Are You Here Café

Será que algum ser humano chega à idade adulta sem colocar a questão “Porque estou aqui?” nem que seja uma vez na vida?

Parece-me inverosímil que não. Contudo, esta é a premissa deste livro. A personagem principal é um homem adulto que se encontra num café onde lhe é apresentado um menu, com 3 questões para refletir enquanto aguarda o seu pedido.

O ar confuso que adopta constantemente e a forma condescendente como é tratado pelos diferentes personagens, fez-me revirar tantas vezes os olhos que temi uma lesão.

Se nunca refletiu sobre o sentido da vida, força! Leia o livro. Mas se é alguém que procura aprofundar este tema, receio que mal dê para molhar os pés. Vá em busca de águas mais profundas.

An easily digestible book about a man who got lost on his way to a vacation and found a cafe. On the back of the menu three questions were written on back, "Why are you here?", "Do you fear death?", and "Are you fulfilled?"

Perhaps a little trite but if you had any of these questions before, pick up this book.

At a mere 130 pages The Why Are You Here Café is a very short book that is easy to read at one go. Protagonist John is low on gas and on his way to find a gas station when he discovers the Why Are You Here café in the middle of nowhere. On the menu he does not just find food he would like to have but also three central questions that get him thinking: (1) Why are you here?, (2) Do you fear death? and (3) Are you fulfilled? Assisted by the waitress Casey, café owner Mike and a fellow patron Anne, John slowly starts to formulate answers for himself.

While the exploration of those three questions is certainly worthwhile and anecdotes related by the different characters give the reader food for thought, I found the book quite shallow and show more relatively simple. Sure, it got me thinking, too, which is why I did not read the book at one go, but paused at certain points so as to take time for myself to ponder those questions. Overall, though, the book did not really draw me in or inspire deeper insights than (I think) I would have had pondering those questions without ever having read the book.

Because of the length of the book I would recommend reading the book if you want to get started on pondering key questions for your life. It certainly does not make you lose too much time that could be better used another way. However, I would caution potential readers not to expect too much. 3 stars. show less

When an accident on the highway makes John take an alternate route to where he wants to go he soon finds himself lost, hungry, and almost out of gas. Thinking he will have to sleep in his car before walking he comes across a small cafe in the middle of nowhere. He goes in to get some food and when he looks at the menu he finds 3 questions to ponder while waiting for his food: Why are you here? Do you fear death? Are you fulfilled? With the help of the people in the cafe John learns a different way to look on life, and more importantly himself.

I liked this book. It certainly gives you something to think about. I would recommend this book.

The Why Cafe by John Strelecky. This book was provided to me free-of-charge by GoodReads, FirstReads. This is a short (only 144 pages), easy-to-read, thought-provoking book that asks three questions: (1) Why Are You Here?, (2) Do You Fear Death?, and (3) Are You Fulfilled?

John Strelecky shows you how to take a new direction in life by discovering your Purpose for Existing (PFE). By contemplating the three questions on the menu at The Why Cafe and discussing them with the chef/owner, the waitress, and another customer, John was able to decide to take a new direction in his life. He shares that experience with us by examining how he was living and how he intended to go about finding a new way to fulfillment. I think many of us will see show more ourselves in John or perhaps know someone who is and could benefit from reading this book.

This is a self-help book worth reading. It would make a great gift! show less

I don’t read books like that but I find the idea of a cafe in the middle of nowhere, where you go when you don’t know what to do with life, quite interesting and amusing.

I think you love or dislike this book but there's nothing in between.
I've to admit that this story is written very easily (I think I could have written that too) because - to be honest - it's not really super "deep".

Nevertheless, I liked it. Maybe I liked it just because it was so easy to read. The whole book is about 3 questions you should ask yourself during your life. And those will be answered till the end of the book.

To me, it gave me some extra perspectives about life which I now try to keep in mind if I ever get into specific situations again.