Live Like a Vulcan, Love Like a Wookiee, Laugh Like a Hobbit: Life Lessons from Pop Culture by Robb Pearlman

A gift from my wife, I had packed this in a box of books to read and somehow overlooked said box until very recently. The 2021 book is about a guy attending some sort of con being held at a hotel. Getting hungry, he stops in at the establishment's tavern. It is here that he stumbles across a Vulcan, a Wookiee, a  Hobbit and an elder. They're actually fellow attendees who are in full cosplay. While waiting for their food and drinks, the quintet examine life through the eyes of pop culture, in particular geek pop culture.

Topics include:

* What does Blade Runner teach us about corporations that manipulate beneficial science?

* Who are the real monsters in works such as Frankenstein and The Walking Dead?

* Why has pop culture made us so afraid of quicksand when its so incredibly rare?

And of course what does it mean to live like a Vulcan, Love like a Wookiee and laugh like a Hobbit?

Obviously, much of the philosophical observations made are through a secular lens. And yet Christianity, nor most world religions are scarcely mentioned. Okay, maybe saying that these philosophies fit under the category of what some would call 'woke' is more accurate. In other words, this book might not be for everyone. There's several comments among the characters about abolishing the patriarchy, living your truth, the evils of white colonialism, and systemic racism. While there's a lot of righteous indignation that is warranted, it's just amazing how much imperfections can be forgiven, as long as you're on these 5 sci-fi and fantasy fans side of things. 

As a Christian, I am guilty of this too. I get sickened when I learn that somebody cheated on their spouse or murdered someone. But like it or not, serial killer Ted Bundy is in Heaven right now. Christ's forgiveness is for everyone. Society's grace is only for those who are liberal it seems.

I think my wife thought that this was going to be a book about life's lessons learned through the eyes of geek culture. It kinda was. But it was more like Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven or John Travolta's Propeller One-Way Coach. More fiction than fact. More questions asked than actually answered. Enjoyable to a fault; this just wasn't my cup of tea. As much as the characters say that they enjoy franchises that enlighten without being preached at, I felt like I was sitting through a 100-page sermon on being politically correct by the author. Maybe someone else will get something deeper out of it than I did after I take it to the used bookstore for trade credit. 

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.