"Wonderful!” (Grace Paley). “Heartwarming and smart and wonderfully written” ( Detroit Free Press ). “Provides edifying advice, intimately given, like the best-selling Tuesdays with Morrie ” (the Dallas Morning News ). “Altogether original” (Dr. Laura Schlessinger). “This story will speak to the humanity of the reader” ( Jewish Book World ). The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness is that rare, magical book—a book that tells a good story but also shows us how the tales we learned when we were children shed light on our adult lives. Joel ben Izzy had the unusual opportunity to relive those lessons when he lost his voice and reconnected with his old teacher, Lenny, a retired storyteller. Through his meetings with Lenny, Joel rediscovers the wisdom of ancient tales and takes us on a journey into a world of beggars and kings, monks and tigers, lost horses and buried treasures—and in the end tells us the secret of happiness. In his debut effort, professional storyteller Ben Izzy shares personal experiences that have caused him to search for life's true meaning in the stories he has spent two decades telling. The book starts with the fable of the beggar king, in which King Solomon loses his kingdom and is left to wander the land as a beggar, and from there Ben Izzy's own tale unfolds. A renowned storyteller, the author was at the top of his game when throat cancer robbed him of his voice. As a consequence, he lost his livelihood and became severely depressed until he met up with his old mentor Lenny, a cantankerous and often drunk old storyteller who helped him to stop dwelling on his misery and to see his fate in terms of life's bigger picture. The book ends with the conclusion of the story of the beggar king, in which King Solomon's journey is realized as an illusion, and with Ben Izzy making sense of the cards fate has dealt him. Kathleen Hughes Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "Nothing less than a spiritual odyssey." -- San Francisco Chronicle "The kind of book that's heartwarming and smart and wonderfully written all at the same time... I love this book." -- Detroit Free Press "What a gift, what a blessing; brilliant, funny,wise..That Joel ben Izzy is fantastic! -- Anne Lamott, author of Operating Instructions "Wonderful!" -- Grace Paley, author of The Beggar Kind and the Secret of Happiness is an altogether original true story about a storyteller who loses his voice and believes he's lost everything. An encounter with his old teacher shows him that, in fact, he's been given a great gift. Their meetings lead him on a journey into the timeless wisdom of ancient tales—a world of beggars and kings, monks and tigers, lost horses and buried treasures—and, ultimately, toward the secret of happiness. Story Origin: China The Lost Horse Long ago in a village in northern China, there lived a man who owned a magnificent horse. So beautiful was this horse that people came from miles around just to admire it. They told him he was blessed to own such a horse. "Perhaps," he said. "But what seems like a blessing may be a curse." One day, the horse ran off. It was gone. People came to say how sorry they were for his bad luck. "Perhaps," he said. "But what seems like a curse may be a blessing." A few weeks later, the horse returned. It was not alone. It was followed by twenty-one wild horses. By the law of the land, they became his property. He was rich with horses. His neighbors came to congratulate him on his good fortune. "Truly," they said, "you have been blessed." "Perhaps. But what seems like a blessing may be a curse." Shortly after that his son-his only son-tried to ride one of the wild horses. He was thrown from it and broke his leg. The man's neighbors came to say how sorry they were. Surely, he had been cursed. "Perhaps," he said. "But what seems like a curse may be a blessing." A week later, the king came through that village, drafting every able-bodied young man for a war against the people of the north. It was a horrible war. Everyone who went from that village was killed. Only that man's son survived, because of his broken leg. To this day, in that village, they say, "What seems like a blessing may be a curse. What seems like a curse may be a blessing." Chapter One The Lost Horse Just how I came to be a storyteller is a story in itself, a tale of curses turned to blessings. I certainly wasn't born into the art, though I've met many who were. In a pub at the southernmost tip of Ireland I heard a genuine seanachie, who sang the ancient ballads with such resonance that you could hear the ghosts of his ancestors singing the chorus. In the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem I came to know a Hassidic maggid who could trace his lineage back to Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav, the great eighteenth-century mystic teller of tales. And once, on the north shore of Oahu, in Hawaii, I shared the stage with a woman who had been chosen as treasurer of five thousand