This is a biography about a man named Eddie Buczynski. Eddie grew up in Ozone Park, Queens, New York and then lived in New York City, specifically Greenwich Village, in the 60s and 70s during the volatile years of the Gay Liberation Movement. When his dream of becoming a Jesuit priest was shattered by the Roman Catholic Church Eddie dropped out of high school and turned to the occult, Witchcraft in particular. Witchcraft was making a name for itself in the United States after covens of differing traditions had made their way from England and Eddie believed he’d found what he needed to be complete. Or had he?

When I was told this book had found a home with a publisher I asked for the opportunity to read it and when it showed up in my email box my husband asked me, “Will you be able to be impartial?” A very legitimate question (reason forthcoming) and my only answer could be, “I will do my best.”

This is a very different book from the ones I typically read. It’s non-fiction, a biography and contains a lot of history pertaining to Witchcraft and the occult, the Gay Liberation movement and New York City in the 60s and 70s. I’m first and foremost a fan of fiction, so non-fiction, history and biographies are way down my reading list, not ones I never read, just ones I rarely read. So what makes this one special? Well, it was written by my brother. A brother I happen to love very much, who spent nine years researching and writing his baby and I very much wanted to read it. So, with near zero knowledge of the subject matter, I opened up his book with great excitement.

As Eddie’s story unfolds, as well as what was happening in New York and elsewhere at the time, I can only say I was transfixed. I was born in 1968, so I had no idea then or even later of any of the events that happened. We each have our own interests, so I’m not going to apologize for my ignorance of the subject matters detailed in this book. However, I’m very glad I read it! It’s very detailed and I felt as if I was there experiencing everything the people in the book were experiencing. It was very interesting!

I have to admit while reading about Eddie he seemed to me to be a bit of a flitterer, settling on something with great enthusiasm, before flitting away to something else. However, as I continued to read about him I realized he wasn’t flittering, he was searching for that elusive ‘something’ that is sometimes so very hard to find and which I feel he eventually found, but not until he was in his 30s. I’m saddened that he never lived to pursue his dreams in the ‘something’ (archaeology) that he found, but he lives on in the living traditions of Witchcraft that he created and founded: Traditionalist Gwyddoniaid, The Wica, The Minoan Brotherhood and The Minoan Sisterhood (co-founder). May they continue to grow and prosper.

*The author provided a copy of this book to me for review. Please see disclaimer page on my blog. ( )