When Richard Parker gets fired from the big business he worked for as a journalist he couldn’t forget his boss calling him “stupid Richard Parker“ and this is what initially causes him to retreat back to Lil Lotus the place of his birth and at the same time sends him on a spiritual journey. At first he worships the god of bachelors and even goes on the spiritual journey but when he arrived at the airport he missed spoke and said he was a Christian not knowing 2 feet away there is a sign that says only Buddhist allowed until after escaping a beat down his friend and mentor tells him he should not give up on marrying and that God made the female spirit for some reason… Right? so after going to another retreat he meets a woman whose name means bright moon in for the first time is in love he stays with her for months they build nonprofits for cows and then dogs and right when they’re about to properly become a couple she learned he ate meat before and then totally kicked him out of her house and her life. This is when he gets his palm read right before going back to Little Lotus and when he learned he was destined for great things and now he wants to be a saint. He will turn to the Christian religion a shaman the Harry Chrishnas and on and on the writing style of this book totally reminded me of Alexander McCall Smith who is one of my favorite authors this book is clever and although set in countries I have never visited and not familiar with it it was still easy to follow along with entertaining dialogue a fast-moving plot. It is a spiritual International journey with lots of lol moments and a protagonist you can’t help but to love. please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Saint Richard Parker is a well-written and fun book. It humorously chronicles one man's quest for love and spirituality, akin to a male version of many recent books. Richard Parker's journey, takes him across countries, encountering unique characters and navigating perilous situations, ultimately discovering himself. Beyond self-discovery, the book appeals to travel, food, and culture enthusiasts. Merlin Franco adeptly intertwines cultural norms and politics, offering a nuanced perspective beyond tourism. While the well-researched travel references captivate, unfamiliarity with Indian culture and regional nuances may pose challenges. I found it hard to understand several references in the book. Nevertheless, the book's charm resonates most with avid travelers or those familiar with the depicted regions and Indian culture. ( )

Saint Richard Parker really threw me for a loop! I received it through Goodreads Giveaways, and I have to admit to not having read the description beforehand very thoroughly. I was under the very mistaken impression that it was possibly an autobiography and would have alot of travel details and information about many foreign countries. Well, a very small part of that turned out to be the case. I delved into the book and immediately realized how wrong my preconceptions had been. At first I was disheartened by what seemed like a prepostourous fictionalized account of a buffoon. I'm not very sharp when it comes to satire, so I was in for a bit of a bumpy ride. It took a very long time for me to get into this story. But it did happen. I eventually grew fond of the main character and became engrossed in his erstwhile adventures.

Our beleaguered hero hails from a very small, unnoteworthy, poor village in India to which he returns after being fired from his journalism post (a silly, ridiculous situation right at the beginning of the book). After listening to a couple of local crackpots he becomes convinced that his destiny lies in a spiritual journey of enlightenment in the East. And so we set off with him on an unbelievable journey. A very, very long journey. It does seem to me that this book is way longer than it ought to be; that a good portion of it should have been edited out.

The series of misadventures that the yet unrecognized Saint Richard Parker then encounters finally won me over and I simply had to empathize with him and smile occasionally. He suffered every indignity conceivable and then some; finding out that a brown man from India was dissed again and again, whereas being White, and particurlarly from America seemed to be a ticket to every kind of advantage (and girl) you could ask for. Yet, rather than drown in his sorrows, the indomitable self-proclaimed Sir Richard Parker persevered and for that we had no choice but to almost grow fond of him and ultimately admire him. The comedic and messy situations he ends up seem to be endless as do the ways he can be turned down for a date. And to think, Rodney Dangerfield thought HE got no respect! That's nothing compared to the experiences of Sir Richard Parker.

Yet ultimately, after many, many chapters of such adventures; he finally ends up back home and, lo and behold, discovers it's not nearly as bad as he thought it was. ( )