Travels of the Mind

By: Ettore Grillo
Publisher: Eloquent Books
Publication Date: September 2009
ISBN: 978-1-60860-657-3
Reviewed by: Amy Lignor
Review Date: March 2012

Writing has long been a coping mechanism. Whether ‘speaking’ to readers in a fictional sense by introducing distant locations and mystical beings; or, by taking the reader’s hand and entering a very real world made up of negatives, a writer gives themselves and others the ability to cope, enjoy life, and find reason in a world that’s chaotic.

In this brilliantly written book, Ettore Grillo finds a way to overcome the paranoia and extreme phobias that were causing him to live a life that felt as if it were an impossible feat. This autobiography offers a writer who tells the truth, and finds a way to show that paranoid schizophrenia is far more than a medical term - it’s a harsh condition that isolates a human from all others. He lived inside a ‘cavern’ that brought him nothing but conflict and anxiety, yet when he began his spiritual quest life, once again, became not only possible - but worth living.

The very first look at Ettore is one of his earliest remembrances. He was a five-year-old child living in an amazingly grey world. You must understand that this was the 1940’s and uniformed men were marching around his neighborhood. The scene was nothing but a wasteland, as almost everything around him had been destroyed by the bombings in WWII. But a story that he overhead his parents talking about - a pair of young murderers - was what truly sank into the child’s mind. He became frightened beyond belief of those particular killers, and when Ettore saw the prison where they were being held, his paranoia grew.

The fear of death is something that a great many people feel to their very core. They want answers; they look for a spiritual side to all of this destruction and work to uncover a way to go on in the ‘real’ world, not trusting the fact that there is ‘another place’ that will someday receive them.

Ettore was privy to many stories told from a group called The Circle of Noblemen, a group that his Uncle Salvatore was a part of. Conversations were held between members - from Lorenzo, who was a teacher of literature, to a rich landowner by the name of Mario, who had his own tale to weave. Each one of these men spoke about their travels and how their journeys to various locations, and what they found there - romance, horror, greed, etc. - became a part of them. Ettore used these journeys as a way to restore his energy, peace, and his own inner-strength.

Readers will be so mesmerized by the in-depth and colorful images they’ll actually ‘feel’ as if they’re standing by Mario in a Paravati courtroom with another of the Noblemen, or beside his Uncle Salvatore when he finds himself in Africa. Through two more journeys, readers will also be immersed in all facets of the spiritual world - from Christianity to Buddhism. This author has taken his own trials and turned them into a book that will not only entertain and aid other people in their own quests, but offer a better understanding of how the mind works.

Quill Says: This is a truly memorable journey of the mind, heart and soul!

To learn more about Travels of the Mind, please visit the author's website at: www.ettoregrillo.com