The Cafe on the Edge of the World 세상끝의 카페 by John Strelecky 존 스트레레키

" If you are looking for a heart-pounding thriller, "The Café on the Edge of the World," by John Strelecky is not the book for you. If, however, you are in the mood to engage in self-reflection and ponder some of life's greater meaning, this may be your cup of tea. A frazzled executive gets hopelessly lost (apparently, he has no GPS) driving to a vacation spot because of a traffic jam on the Interstate. He is about to run out of gas in a rural area when he sees a diner with lights on and stops in. That's when the mystical stuff begins to happen, starting with a menu that says , "Why are you here?" Conversations with the wait staff and other customers all turn into discussions about the purpose of life, which Strelecky calls "PFE" or "Purpose for Existing." Protagonist John learns that the average worker spends over a year of their life just reading useless emails, that working oneself to death to build a better life later on in retirement need not mean having a miserable life now, and that advertising is causing people to needlessly overspend. By carefully worded questions and wise anecdotes, the other people at the Café on the Edge of the World leave John forever changed....."

106 페이지 정도의 아주 짧은 책이다. 소설의 형식을 빌려쓴 자기 계발서라고 봐야 할 거 같다. Reader's Digest 같은 잡지에서 흔히 볼 수 있는 따뜻하고 교훈적인 이야기들하고 비슷하다는 느낌을 받았다. 카페의 메뉴판에 쓰인 Why are you here? Do you fear death? Are you fulfilled?이라는 질문들에 대하여 주인공과 카페직원들의 대화가 이야기의 중심을 차지한다. 'Why is it we spend so much of our time preparing for when we can do what we want, instead of just doing what we want right now?'라는 문장이 아마 독자들에게 강한 의미를 전달하지 않을까 싶다. 문장이나 표현이 평이하기 때문에 읽는데 무난한 작품이다. 'thought provoking, easy read, quick read'라는 독자들의 평가들처럼 그렇게 어렵지 않은 책인 거 같다.