{"id":850,"date":"2012-02-21T12:43:08","date_gmt":"2012-02-21T20:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=850"},"modified":"2019-04-27T09:46:36","modified_gmt":"2019-04-27T16:46:36","slug":"this-mobius-strip-of-ifs-a-remarkable-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/writing\/this-mobius-strip-of-ifs-a-remarkable-book\/","title":{"rendered":"This Mobius Strip of Ifs – A Remarkable Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When I opened the book This Mobius Strip of Ifs<\/a><\/em> by Mathias B. Freese<\/a>, I had no idea what to expect. The cover gave me no clues, as for starters I didn\u2019t know what a Mobius strip meant. I learned it is \u201cessentially a ribbon with a twist\u201d. Freese views life as \u201crandom happenstance; a long line of ifs that we strive to make sense of for ourselves.\u201d I have to concur, as this book somehow landed serendipitously in my hands and I\u2019m still puzzled as to how this all came about. But once I started reading, I couldn\u2019t stop. This is unusual for me as I think the last time I did this, I was a teenager, but the jewels I found inside the cover spoke to me like no other.<\/p>\n

Mathias B.Freese<\/a> is a former psychotherapist and teacher, and though he shares some of those experiences, this is no dry academic text. His essay collection is a rich concoction of stories, feelings, dreams, ideas, perceptions, and distilled memories. By sharing his own emotionally deprived childhood and family losses, he touches a core in all of us who\u2019ve considered our early years and\/or have gone through the pain of losing those we love. And he doesn\u2019t flinch when he shares his regrets or his inability to make those tender family connections that we all crave. In doing so, he shares his humanity.<\/p>\n

But This Mobius Strip of Ifs<\/em> is much more than a compilation of personal reflections. Through discussing the people who\u2019ve had an impact on him\u2014like Jefferson, Freud, Buster Keaton, Orson Welles, and the writers, Camus, Krishnamurti and Kazantzakis, he encourages us to look at our own lives. As he weaves in his encounters with these great men and others through film and books, he raises those big questions we all ask ourselves. What is our purpose? What is of value? What are we teaching our children in schools? What are we giving them at home? How do we get over our mistakes, our regrets in life? Can we? And can we ever know ourselves?<\/em><\/p>\n

He also touches on his life’s journey as a Jew, his writing about the Holocaust (see The i Tetraology) and how aging has affected him. One sentence in particular hit home. “What I leave literarily is no more important than the creases in my pants as this globe hurtles through space.”\u00a0 I understand what he means by that, but I beg to differ. By the time I\u2019d finished reading his brilliant book, I felt I\u2019d received a gift\u2014a glorious education about life, not only his, but my own.\u00a0 Some of what I\u2019ve missed in this review is well said in another, Book Chase, a blog by Sam Sattler.\u00a0<\/a> This Mobius Strip of Ifs<\/em> is one book I plan to visit again and again.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I opened the book This Mobius Strip of Ifs by Mathias B. Freese, I had no idea what to expect. The cover gave me no clues, as for starters… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[88,4],"tags":[11,279,78,278,274,281,280,282,275,276,277],"class_list":["post-850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-writing","tag-book","tag-book-chase","tag-diana-stevan","tag-essays","tag-mathias-b-freese","tag-psychotherapist","tag-sam-sattler","tag-the-i-tetraology","tag-this-mobius-strip-of-ifs","tag-writers","tag-wrting"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-dI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2576,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/writing\/writers-festivals-and-more\/","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":0},"title":"Writers Festivals, Libraries, and More","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"15 \u041a\u0432\u0456\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"North Shore Writers Festival April is turning out to be quite a month for a writers' festival and more.\u00a0The month\u00a0begins with my book launch of The Rubber Fence at the\u00a0Campbell River library\u00a0on Vancouver Island and\u00a0continues at the Lynn Valley library for the North Shore Writers Festival. At the North Shore\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/IMG_0922.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/IMG_0922.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/IMG_0922.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3438,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2017\/writing\/siwc-an-exceptional-writers-conference-in-b-c\/","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":1},"title":"SIWC – An Exceptional Writers Conference in B.C.","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"19 \u0416\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m back from a wonderful holiday in the Maritimes. I\u2019ll post more about that later, but today, I\u2019m off to work at the Surrey International Writers Conference, held Oct. 19-22, at the Sheraton Hotel in Surrey, British Columbia. A great event with bestselling authors, agents, and editors from the USA\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Book-signing-ad.png?fit=1200%2C446&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Book-signing-ad.png?fit=1200%2C446&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Book-signing-ad.png?fit=1200%2C446&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Book-signing-ad.png?fit=1200%2C446&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Book-signing-ad.png?fit=1200%2C446&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2597,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/writing\/book-cover-wins-gold-star\/","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":2},"title":"Book Cover Wins Gold Star","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"23 \u041a\u0432\u0456\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Winning Cover I'm thrilled that the book\u00a0cover for THE RUBBER FENCE has won a\u00a0\u00a0Gold Star from Joel Friedlander of the BOOK DESIGNER. When I submitted the cover for their monthly contest, I wrote, \u00a0\u201cAs this story takes place largely on a psychiatric ward, I thought that Jun Ares\u2019s book\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"writing world","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/TRF-OLD-POSTER.jpg?fit=417%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6988,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2025\/books\/7-post-book-launch-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":3},"title":"7 Post Book Launch Thoughts","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"19 \u041b\u0438\u043f\u043d\u044f, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm happy Along Came A Gardener , my inspirational self-help book and memoir, is finally out, but I'm having a lot of post book launch thoughts. Some good ones, some not so good. Reviewing What Went Right 1) One postive post book launch thought is the fact Along Came A\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"post book launch thought","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/thumbnail_IMG_5173.jpg?fit=640%2C481&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/thumbnail_IMG_5173.jpg?fit=640%2C481&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/thumbnail_IMG_5173.jpg?fit=640%2C481&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3532,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2018\/writing\/looking-for-a-book-cover-design\/","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":4},"title":"Looking for a Book Cover Design","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"24 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This January, I finished revising my third novel, a historical one, as different in feel from the first two I've written, as the second was from the first. It's about a Ukrainian peasant farmwife, who shortly after her husband joins the Tsar\u2019s army has to escape with their six children,\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"book cover design","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Oleksander-Murashko-Peasant-Family-1914.jpg?fit=498%2C510&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6662,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2025\/books\/countdown-to-the-book-launch\/","url_meta":{"origin":850,"position":5},"title":"Countdown to the Book Launch","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"27 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Countdown to Book Launch of ALONG CAME A GARDENER, an inspirational self-help book, based on the author's 25 years working as a psychotherapist in a variety of settings and her love of gardening.","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"countdown to book launch","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACAG-JPEG-Coming-March-15-2025.jpg?fit=788%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACAG-JPEG-Coming-March-15-2025.jpg?fit=788%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACAG-JPEG-Coming-March-15-2025.jpg?fit=788%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACAG-JPEG-Coming-March-15-2025.jpg?fit=788%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}