When the publishers of the New Age novel "Surfing the Himalayas" contacted Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson for a blurb last spring, it didn't seem out of the ordinary. Jackson, a well-known student of Zen, gets many such requests. He read about three quarters of the book, found first-time novelist Frederick Lenz's story of a snowboarder who finds enlightenment in Nepal "benign and appropriate" and offered the following blurb: "Brings levity and humor to a subject often relegated to a mundane, boring prospect." When the book came out in November, his words were featured prominently on the jacket and in a massive ad campaign, along with a blizzard of blurbs from musician Laurie Anderson, Novell software CEO Bob Frankenbergandothers.
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