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Musings from a Small Island: Everything under the Sun
Peter Mayle meets John Berendt who runs into Anthony Bourdain ... Or if you prefer, A YEAR IN PROVENCE marries MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD & EVIL and has an affair with KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL ...
From professional artist and multi-award-winning and international bestselling author Sol Luckman comes this dazzlingly self-illustrated memoir that will have you alternately bursting with laughter and bursting at the seams with new perspectives on life, death and the curiouser and curiouser cosmos we call home.
Luckman—whose latest novel, CALI THE DESTROYER, won a whopping eight book awards—showcases his literary and painterly talents in this one-of-kind story of an uncommon life on the fair shores of Hilton Head Island, a world-famous vacation destination nestled in the Deep South.
Combining fascinating memoir, hilarious comedy and inspirational philosophy (to say nothing of a handful of excellent craft cocktail recipes), MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND is also a stunningly visual coffee table book any Lowcountry lover or contemporary art aficionado would be proud to display.
Seen from Luckman's charmingly eccentric perspective, Hilton Head comes alive in ways few places do in literature or art.
“Sol Luckman has eloquently written a witty, insightful memoir in MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND: EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN.” —Readers’ Favorite
NOTE: The beautiful, glossy, full-color PAPERBACK coffee table book version of MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND is available through the author’s official website, Crow Rising Transformational Media.
From professional artist and multi-award-winning and international bestselling author Sol Luckman comes this dazzlingly self-illustrated memoir that will have you alternately bursting with laughter and bursting at the seams with new perspectives on life, death and the curiouser and curiouser cosmos we call home.
Luckman—whose latest novel, CALI THE DESTROYER, won a whopping eight book awards—showcases his literary and painterly talents in this one-of-kind story of an uncommon life on the fair shores of Hilton Head Island, a world-famous vacation destination nestled in the Deep South.
Combining fascinating memoir, hilarious comedy and inspirational philosophy (to say nothing of a handful of excellent craft cocktail recipes), MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND is also a stunningly visual coffee table book any Lowcountry lover or contemporary art aficionado would be proud to display.
Seen from Luckman's charmingly eccentric perspective, Hilton Head comes alive in ways few places do in literature or art.
“Sol Luckman has eloquently written a witty, insightful memoir in MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND: EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN.” —Readers’ Favorite
NOTE: The beautiful, glossy, full-color PAPERBACK coffee table book version of MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND is available through the author’s official website, Crow Rising Transformational Media.
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 25, 2023
4 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Sol Luckman
10 books174 followers🔥 A longtime researcher of shamanism and inner alchemy, Sol Luckman (https://solluckman.substack.com) is an iconoclastic psychonaut devoted to exploring the furthest reaches of human history and potential—wherever that investigation might lead.
👉 Of his new book, GET OUT OF HERE ALIVE, the multi-award-winning #1 Amazon Best Seller in Energy Healing as well as Alchemy, Indie Reader had this to say: “Blending shamanic wisdom, metaphysics, and energy medicine, Luckman invites readers on a journey toward self-realization and spiritual freedom ... Practical techniques for energy recovery, trauma release, and holistic restoration are interwoven with philosophical insights, making complex metaphysical ideas accessible and actionable. Luckman’s engaging prose and fearless exploration of esoteric topics provide a refreshing perspective on personal transformation.”
👀 Check out the exclusive audiobook serialization of GET OUT OF HERE ALIVE at https://solluckman.substack.com/p/imm.... Enjoy the exclusive companion text, OUT THROUGH THE IN DOOR, at https://solluckman.substack.com/p/new....
🏅 Luckman’s latest novel, CALI THE DESTROYER—a page-turner of a sci-fi tale set in an Orwellian future seeded in the dystopian present that radically rewrites Gnosticism as well as the origins of the earth and humanity—was selected as Winner of the 2022 NYC Big Book Award and 2022 National Indie Excellence Award for Visionary Fiction, Silver Medalist for Visionary Fiction in the 2022 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest, Finalist in both the New Age and Visionary Fiction categories of the 2021 International Book Awards, Finalist in both the Paranormal/Supernatural and Fantasy categories of the 2022 IAN Book of the Year Awards, and Distinguished Favorite for Audio Fiction in the 2022 NYC Big Book Awards.
👁 His previous novel, the multi-award-winning SNOOZE: A STORY OF AWAKENING, was a deep dive into Hindu mysticism, lucid dreaming, parallel universes, and cryptozoology described by INDIE SHAMAN Magazine as “superlative fiction.”
🧬 In his two international bestselling nonfiction books on the “revolutionary healing science” (NEXUS Magazine) of his own unique form of sound healing, the Regenetics Method, Luckman examined the critical role played by DNA and consciousness in healing, transformation, and evolution.
🤣 On the lighter side, Luckman is also an acclaimed humorist. Of his multi-award-winning satirical lexicon, THE ANGEL’S DICTIONARY, Readers’ Favorite remarked that he “picked up where writers like Mark Twain and Ambrose Bierce had left off.”
🎨 More recently, Amazon #1 Best Seller artist memoir MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND combines fascinating autobiography, hilarious comedy and inspirational philosophy in a stunningly self-illustrated coffee table book any Lowcountry lover or contemporary art aficionado would be proud to display. “It was a joy reading the musings of Sol Luckman,” wrote artist Nancy Tobin for Readers’ Favorite. “So joyous, I’ll reread it. I may even buy one of his paintings.”
🙏 To learn more about Sol Luckman’s writing and artwork, subscribe to his newsletter and enjoy his hard-hitting exclusive ebook and audiobook, THE WORLD CULT & YOU: YOUR PLACE IN IT & YOUR WAY OUT OF IT, visit https://solluckman.substack.com.
👉 Of his new book, GET OUT OF HERE ALIVE, the multi-award-winning #1 Amazon Best Seller in Energy Healing as well as Alchemy, Indie Reader had this to say: “Blending shamanic wisdom, metaphysics, and energy medicine, Luckman invites readers on a journey toward self-realization and spiritual freedom ... Practical techniques for energy recovery, trauma release, and holistic restoration are interwoven with philosophical insights, making complex metaphysical ideas accessible and actionable. Luckman’s engaging prose and fearless exploration of esoteric topics provide a refreshing perspective on personal transformation.”
👀 Check out the exclusive audiobook serialization of GET OUT OF HERE ALIVE at https://solluckman.substack.com/p/imm.... Enjoy the exclusive companion text, OUT THROUGH THE IN DOOR, at https://solluckman.substack.com/p/new....
🏅 Luckman’s latest novel, CALI THE DESTROYER—a page-turner of a sci-fi tale set in an Orwellian future seeded in the dystopian present that radically rewrites Gnosticism as well as the origins of the earth and humanity—was selected as Winner of the 2022 NYC Big Book Award and 2022 National Indie Excellence Award for Visionary Fiction, Silver Medalist for Visionary Fiction in the 2022 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest, Finalist in both the New Age and Visionary Fiction categories of the 2021 International Book Awards, Finalist in both the Paranormal/Supernatural and Fantasy categories of the 2022 IAN Book of the Year Awards, and Distinguished Favorite for Audio Fiction in the 2022 NYC Big Book Awards.
👁 His previous novel, the multi-award-winning SNOOZE: A STORY OF AWAKENING, was a deep dive into Hindu mysticism, lucid dreaming, parallel universes, and cryptozoology described by INDIE SHAMAN Magazine as “superlative fiction.”
🧬 In his two international bestselling nonfiction books on the “revolutionary healing science” (NEXUS Magazine) of his own unique form of sound healing, the Regenetics Method, Luckman examined the critical role played by DNA and consciousness in healing, transformation, and evolution.
🤣 On the lighter side, Luckman is also an acclaimed humorist. Of his multi-award-winning satirical lexicon, THE ANGEL’S DICTIONARY, Readers’ Favorite remarked that he “picked up where writers like Mark Twain and Ambrose Bierce had left off.”
🎨 More recently, Amazon #1 Best Seller artist memoir MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND combines fascinating autobiography, hilarious comedy and inspirational philosophy in a stunningly self-illustrated coffee table book any Lowcountry lover or contemporary art aficionado would be proud to display. “It was a joy reading the musings of Sol Luckman,” wrote artist Nancy Tobin for Readers’ Favorite. “So joyous, I’ll reread it. I may even buy one of his paintings.”
🙏 To learn more about Sol Luckman’s writing and artwork, subscribe to his newsletter and enjoy his hard-hitting exclusive ebook and audiobook, THE WORLD CULT & YOU: YOUR PLACE IN IT & YOUR WAY OUT OF IT, visit https://solluckman.substack.com.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 17, 2023
Musings on Musings
What happens when someone goes on vacation and then decides to stay? Life happens.
In an expected life, we go to school, get a job and . . . work 30 years, have 2.4 kids, buy a house with a picket fence and a car. Who the hell wrote the American Dream anyways?
Musings on a Small Island shows the life of an Artist. A life where the normal or expected is not the way things go or should go. Where the fuel for the artistic engine comes not from a life lived by the rules, but in living in the environment you are in.
In this case after finding his life on a small island in the South. A life where the inspiration could come from the neighbors, body surfing, cycling around the island, the weather or just life (but not from Country Western Music).
Life is art. And it can be a beautiful picture or words on a page. Or in the expression of a well made cocktail.
Grab a good chair and enjoy!
What happens when someone goes on vacation and then decides to stay? Life happens.
In an expected life, we go to school, get a job and . . . work 30 years, have 2.4 kids, buy a house with a picket fence and a car. Who the hell wrote the American Dream anyways?
Musings on a Small Island shows the life of an Artist. A life where the normal or expected is not the way things go or should go. Where the fuel for the artistic engine comes not from a life lived by the rules, but in living in the environment you are in.
In this case after finding his life on a small island in the South. A life where the inspiration could come from the neighbors, body surfing, cycling around the island, the weather or just life (but not from Country Western Music).
Life is art. And it can be a beautiful picture or words on a page. Or in the expression of a well made cocktail.
Grab a good chair and enjoy!
July 29, 2023
So"u"l surfed into my life not so long ago and immediately tickled my fancy...by deep diving into the psyche and life of this original thought rattler, I found myself singing a strange condor song out loud, laughing, totally captivated by his s"punky" world view, that rang so uncannily familiar, like going down a rabbit hole to my past, as if it partly came out of my own flower power life. Musings from a small island is surprising, thought jolting, original in many ways, a captivating and inspiring read, like "Art for hearts sake", the best escapism ever, giving me, as it always does when I get into my own art, a feeling of elation and freedom, wonder and awe. This book is incomparable to anything I ever read before, its unique...chapeau mon ami, je suis coiffé de toi, j'ai kiffé et je te kif. I devoured your book in 2 days. Your feminin alter ego. Farah
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July 29, 2023
I truly enjoyed Mr. Luckman's Memoir and found myself dreaming about living in an island someday. It was fun, engaging and interesting. The author's art offered Musings from a Small Island such a unique, special touch. I would gift this treasure to any friend going on vacation to add lots of smiles and giggles to their trip.
July 16, 2023
Review by Nancy Tobin for Readers’ Favorite ...
Sol Luckman has eloquently written a witty, insightful memoir in MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND: EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN. As an art major, I thoroughly enjoyed Sol’s humor and philosophical thoughts on the elusive purpose of art and his expression of life on his small island. His love of bodysurfing and descriptions of the tourist environment at the beach were hilarious and an observation I share, having lived in Florida for many years. I laughed out loud for the first fifty pages. This book is not all humor, though. In this open display of musings by Sol, he bares his soul and reveals some of his struggles with a nasty funk and how he used bodysurfing to overcome personal challenges.
MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND hit a distinct chord with me. I must be a kindred spirit (or perhaps a spirit animal?). His sarcasm had me grinning as his thoughtful descriptions of tourists’ bicycle etiquette, country music, palmetto trees, politics, cell phones, and life, in general, delighted me because I so agree with him. This justifiably opinionated author is a prolific artist, poet, and mixologist. And as if that isn’t enough, there’s more. The art stands alone. I loved his paintings! The simplicity of his work falls somewhere between abstract, modernist, and minimalist. His work is so good that I left the book briefly to research his website, where I found more than five hundred examples of his colorful portrayals of life. It was a joy reading the musings of Sol Luckman. So joyous, I’ll reread it. I may even buy one of his paintings.
Sol Luckman has eloquently written a witty, insightful memoir in MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND: EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN. As an art major, I thoroughly enjoyed Sol’s humor and philosophical thoughts on the elusive purpose of art and his expression of life on his small island. His love of bodysurfing and descriptions of the tourist environment at the beach were hilarious and an observation I share, having lived in Florida for many years. I laughed out loud for the first fifty pages. This book is not all humor, though. In this open display of musings by Sol, he bares his soul and reveals some of his struggles with a nasty funk and how he used bodysurfing to overcome personal challenges.
MUSINGS FROM A SMALL ISLAND hit a distinct chord with me. I must be a kindred spirit (or perhaps a spirit animal?). His sarcasm had me grinning as his thoughtful descriptions of tourists’ bicycle etiquette, country music, palmetto trees, politics, cell phones, and life, in general, delighted me because I so agree with him. This justifiably opinionated author is a prolific artist, poet, and mixologist. And as if that isn’t enough, there’s more. The art stands alone. I loved his paintings! The simplicity of his work falls somewhere between abstract, modernist, and minimalist. His work is so good that I left the book briefly to research his website, where I found more than five hundred examples of his colorful portrayals of life. It was a joy reading the musings of Sol Luckman. So joyous, I’ll reread it. I may even buy one of his paintings.
August 3, 2023
I laughed out loud three times before reaching chapter one. And I laughed to myself at the last sentence. For I, too, live on a small island so have much in common with the musings. However, when I read that Sol Luckman’s ‘small’ island is three times the size of Manhattan, I felt he was using some of that ‘art creep’ of his. He’s got gallery openings, a cinema even!
As somebody who lives on what I call a ‘15-minute island’, I can only envy the weather, the social life and, indeed, the artwork. And, as a fellow bohemian from way back, I too have attended a multitude of art shows so I will add that this book is the literary equivalent of visiting an artist’s house museum. It’s full of inspiring color, and will set you off onto search engines looking for music, painters and other influences mentioned.
And if you’ve ever wondered if artists never seem to do a proper job, he exposes the reality wide open. Life, as an artist, IS a life on permanent vacation, just as you always thought. You just have to deal with the “poverty, restlessness, dissatisfaction, alienation, obsession.” And the best way to deal with that is, of course, to paint and write or whatever your “art addiction” is. And so the cycle begins again.
This book sets me in mind of the gorgeous, ‘Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World’ by Natalie Goldberg.
‘Musings From A Small Island’ belongs in a genre all of its own and I very much recommend it. It might even turn you into an artist.
As somebody who lives on what I call a ‘15-minute island’, I can only envy the weather, the social life and, indeed, the artwork. And, as a fellow bohemian from way back, I too have attended a multitude of art shows so I will add that this book is the literary equivalent of visiting an artist’s house museum. It’s full of inspiring color, and will set you off onto search engines looking for music, painters and other influences mentioned.
And if you’ve ever wondered if artists never seem to do a proper job, he exposes the reality wide open. Life, as an artist, IS a life on permanent vacation, just as you always thought. You just have to deal with the “poverty, restlessness, dissatisfaction, alienation, obsession.” And the best way to deal with that is, of course, to paint and write or whatever your “art addiction” is. And so the cycle begins again.
This book sets me in mind of the gorgeous, ‘Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World’ by Natalie Goldberg.
‘Musings From A Small Island’ belongs in a genre all of its own and I very much recommend it. It might even turn you into an artist.
August 12, 2023
brilliant!
Imagining lying on the grass, looking through the blades out to the shores and sea; hearing an ocean now as i type after returning to Sol’s unique artwork style. Upon first arrival of pages, Sol’s words created an extra dimension which utmost complimented.
Moments of laughter, sadness, joy, concern, intrigue and appreciation.
grateful to of experienced.
surprises included 🍹 : )
increased awareness
[as i completed a book this year, i can complete more]
Imagining lying on the grass, looking through the blades out to the shores and sea; hearing an ocean now as i type after returning to Sol’s unique artwork style. Upon first arrival of pages, Sol’s words created an extra dimension which utmost complimented.
Moments of laughter, sadness, joy, concern, intrigue and appreciation.
grateful to of experienced.
surprises included 🍹 : )
increased awareness
[as i completed a book this year, i can complete more]
May 11, 2025
A great Read.. fun and enlightening
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2025
Such a fun story. Lots of funny lines and a story easy to relate to…
Sol Luckman and his books are exciting and inspirational to read . Page turners🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2025
Such a fun story. Lots of funny lines and a story easy to relate to…
Sol Luckman and his books are exciting and inspirational to read . Page turners🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
August 15, 2023
Highly amusing. The writing is intimate and engaging, the artwork beautiful and plentiful. An enjoyable vacation for the mind.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews