One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart, a Zen Memoir
HENRY SHUKMAN
COUNTERPOINT press, 352 PP, £11.99)
Tablet bookshop price £10.79 • Tel 020 7799 4064

If you ever wanted to learn a bit about Zen meditation, but were put off by thoughts of motorcycle maintenance or Buddhism, this is a highly readable way to find out more. The first half is a beautifully written memoir about growing up, and the second is about the gradual discovery of how hard it is – and yet a blessed relief – to let go of one’s carefully constructed self.

The author, Henry Shukman (inset), is an award-winning British writer who abandoned his literary life after a lifelong quest. Since 2013 he has led the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in the US as an associate master in the Sanbo Zen lineage, which is a secular and non-religious practice, though drawing heavily on Buddhism and emanating from Japan. His teaching is noted for its fluency and personal warmth.