Rating: 
Summary: The Surprise of Honesty
Review: I was surprised and gratified with Mr. Levine's honesty. The gut wrenching revealation of everything he did: thievery, betrayal, addiction, sleeping in his own vomit, and finally facing himself to find his own path leaps off of the page because it is the author's truth.I had to wait for the book. As soon as it arrived I started reading, I couldn't put it down. I began reading at about four in the afternoon and read the book cover to cover until I had read it all -- when I looked up at the time it was after midnight. I'd recommend this book to anyone. Whether or not you have found your own path you'll respect the author for his truthfulness and courage.
Rating: 
Summary: the cover was the best part, unfortunately
Review: i'm sorry, i just can't recommend this book. it is the story of an addict's recovery, and he happens to dabble in buddhism, as well as hinduism. it is a bit pretentious, the few quick plugs for his dad's books seem a bit cheap and although it wasn't poorly written, it wasn't that interesting. his travels to thailand, burma and india could have been redeeming but he missed those chances as well. he does not seem like a real buddhist at all, just a recovering addict who happens to use bits of buddhism and his father's connections to help get along. yes it is a success story and a great example for addicts, but the book as a whole, just isn't worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Almost entertaining, hardly enlightening.
Review: If awakening is a path, Noah is hacking his way through a dense jungle. He crosses the path a few times, but never actually follows it. His machete of an ego and sense of self is sharp and hard, it cuts deep into all that happen into it's way. It may not be wise to follow the trail he blazes, as it seems to go in circles.
This book is a struggle to read and almost impossible to motivate yourself to finish. I wouldn't say it's a total waste of time. Even though, the author never seems to learn anything during his adventures. The reader can learn a great deal from the vast collection of wrong turns, which make up this book from beginning to end.
Do I recommend reading this? Not really. If you do read it, just realize it is a "memoir". It says so right on the cover. Don't expect from the use of "Dharma" in the title that it will impart any knowledge of reaching awakening. Be somewhat like expecting "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" to instruct you in fixing a motorcycle (that is a book I do recommend).
With all that said, this is a success story of someone turning away from drugs. If you too, have swapped a chemical addiction for prayer beads, sanskrit tattoos, and your own blend of patchwork spirituality, then you may actual enjoy this book a great deal. However, if you have a rudimentary understanding of buddhism, you'll find this book off track and almost insulting.
Rating:
Summary: ignores the positive side of punk
Review: It's great that a privileged white kid from so-cal can get into drugs then turn his life around using his dad's connections, wow glad he had to work so hard, right.... But what really "upsets" me about Noah here is that he ignores the myriad of positive aspects of punk rock the 100's of bands and 1000s of kids who did NOT see punk rock as a dead end street, or as a reason for violence. Haven been in punk bands for most of my adolescent through adult life I find this very offensive, I too am a Buddhist, and the two paths are neither mutually exclusive or really all that different. Some friends of mine on tour in another positive punk band stayed at my flat on tour a couple weeks ago and we had a good laugh at this. But I guess you gotta do something to sell books.
Rating:
Summary: A great story of transformation.
Review: Noah Levine is quite an amazing person.
By his 18th birthday he had been an alcoholic, a drug addict, had felonies on his record, and was heading towards disaster. Despite being the son of a Buddhist teacher and author named Stephen Levine, he was raised mostly by his mother who dated men who did drugs and brought drugs around the home which young Noah stole.
Noah's interest in punk rock was more with a lifestyle that included self-destruction. He loved the music but loved the chaos he could cause to himself and others from the music.
Noah's turn around came after a visit to a mental hospital after an attempt at suicide and a phone call from his father telling him to meditate. Noah then realized his life had more meaning than chaos and destruction of himself.
This story is about a rebellious youth that found his way from Buddhism, and learned it's noble lessons while learning to sort out his own karma & problems along the way. Can a tattooed punk rocker find the beauty of Dharma practice? Noah Levine proves it.
Rating: 
Summary: Trust fund punk finds Buddhism... no surprise there.
Review: Noah Levine supposedly set out to write a book about bringing Buddhism to street punks; instead he wrote 249 pages of self-congratulatory autobiography. Like many autobiographies, this one fails to portray an accurate image of the subject. When writing about one's self, most of us tend to include our accomplishments rather than our negative impacts on life; Levine is no exception. The first few chapters are only moderately inspiring. Levine takes us through the dysfunctional, privileged upbringing of a child born to hippies. Instead of teaching young, bratty Levine right from wrong, his parents took the approach of allowing him to run wild in an attempt to "find his own way." This led to a life of crime, heavy drug use, dropping out of high school, and violence. Instead of enlightening the reader as to what Levine and his friends were so dissatisfied with, Levine regales adventures he and his friends had breaking into the homes of their rather well off families in order to obtain money for drugs. Levine's famous father, Stephen Levine, often comes to Noah's rescue, showing the reader how easy it is to be a criminal, broke punk, when your father has influence and money. Once the younger Levine discovers meditation while in juvenile hall, the reader is mislead into believing that he will start down a path of righteousness. While Levine clearly believes that, nothing could be further from the truth. Noah spends the rest of the book boasting of his various spiritual accomplishments, claiming that because he has apologized and made amends for all his youthful trespasses, that he is forgiven and free of that karma. He focuses entirely upon every self-gratifying situation, and avoids or gives little attention to the times when he acted like a blatant jerk. Similarly, his treatment of his former fiancé, for which Levine makes multiple excuses, is dismissed by saying that he was in love and foolish. He then makes sure that we know that despite his emotional abuse and contribution to her suicide attempt, that in the end she sought psychological help and forgave him. His lack of detail regarding relationships with other people, are just as self-involved. While he admits to having treated his original Asian traveling companions, Vinnie and Micah, with ill regard, he addresses this in one sentence, while complaining about their actions in several paragraphs. One can only wonder how his surviving friends reacted when having read his portrayal of them. Levine expresses even less emotion and sympathy for his deceased friends than he does for the surviving ones. When his childhood friend, a former addict, is found dead years later, Levine immediately assumes he died of an overdose, though, "they hadn't found any dope or needles" (Pg. 236). Levine then spends the next five and a half pages moaning about how the lack of this friendship affects his life, and feels robbed and betrayed. He even goes so far as to say "My oldest friend in the world was dead. And with him died the only witness to see me both shoot dope and teach meditation. Now I was all alone, surrounded by people who I could tell about my past but who would never really know what it was like" (Pg.238). Levine fails to give thought to his friend's family - his new daughter, girlfriend, parents and friends - and instead focuses upon himself. Perhaps the ultimate sin in his account of his friend's death is the hypothesized charge of death by overdose, without ever mentioning the results of a toxicological report. The reader is instead left to think the worst about his friend, and to be inundated with Levine's woe-is-me account of the giving of his friend's eulogy. Levine's self-pitying attitude and sense of entitlement are prevalent throughout, and though he fails to call his life what it is, the holes he leaves in the reader's knowledge are easily filled. When Levine and his friends decide to pack up their belongings and travel to Asia, it takes them only a few months of planning before they are on a plane. Though he and his friends were working retail jobs and he had an occasional stint as a counselor, they all mysteriously have the funds to bum around Asia not once or twice, but three times. They also manage to maintain lifestyles of week long Buddhist retreats in the mountains, traveling into San Francisco for punk shows, and renting apartments in well off areas, all while sporadically working and in Levine's case, occasionally pursuing a degree. His parent's financial support, while obvious, is never mentioned and must be the only way he would be able to live the opulent life that he lives. Levine's wish to reach the young gutter punks through his memoir may only result in alienating them due to his obvious financial status and inherited social advantage. "Dharma Punx" reads like one giant pat on the back, a story of privilege and so-called enlightenment. While much is made of Levine's spiritual growth, he devoted only three pages, found after the epilogue, which explain his practice of meditation. Though this book is found in the "Eastern Religion" section of stores, the book gives little attention to actual religion and instead reads like a who's who in modern Eastern philosophy. When Levine describes his attendance to Ram Dass, he makes sure to let the reader know that Dass is a friend of the family and helped teach the young Levine while growing up. His treatment of famous others such as Jack Kornfield, Norman Fischer, etc., is much of the same, so it is of little wonder that such figures in Eastern teachings gave positive reviews of their friend's son's book, which can be found gracing the back sleeve in large, bold print. Nepotism is rampant in Noah Levine's life. As neither conceit nor nepotism are Buddhist or punk, one must wonder how it is that Levine feels he has the right to portray himself as an example of either community.
Rating:
Summary: Edgy & Fun but...
Review: Older folks might not relate to what Noah is saying because it's definitely a generational book that captures a time & mood squarely in the Gen X camp as we're getting older and coming to grips with what's in store for us. My Mother would never understand why anyone would ever want to venture into a punk rock show mosh pit! That said, it's a great book that offers a no-holds barred peek on not only the punk rock scene but growing up depressed in a culture that's viewing everything (and everyone) as disposable. Fighting that urge and looking beyond that is what Noah has accurately chronicled.
Rating:
Summary: It is an "Ok" read...
Review: The book is great in showing the details of Levine's struggle with addiction and his path to recovery. However, it lacks the artistic touch and with its extensive chronological display it reads more like a biography than a memoir . Some parts of the book were exciting and many were too long and boring, especially the details of his trips and the monasteries that he visited. He doesn't go deep into intellectual discussions or explains his ideologies. Rather, he just refers to them as part of conversations that he had with his friends "We discussed the nature of being," for example. The book has no dialogue at all and the writer tends to repeat himself a lot. I wonder how many times he said "Spiritual Practice" or "Full cycle of friendship"!
Rating:
Summary: it doesn't matter if you like the book, that's not the point
Review: The interesting thing about the process of book review in this format is that there is a tendency for readers to express a great deal about their own likes, dislikes, moments of inspiration, and moments of discomfort. On this level the reviewer is speaking more about themselves than the book he or she is reviewing. I'd like to speak to what the book Dharma Punx does, not my personal experience with it. Dharma Punx is providing validation and encouragement for a set of individuals who WILL NOT surrender their true selves for anything, any journey, any path; and maybe thought at one time that they might have to, to explore spirituality- or even just lead a fuller life. But this is only the first and most basic thing about Dharma Punx. This book is also actively raising awareness about the particular needs of a group that many readers might prefer to ignore and discount: the growing number of incredibly angry, often addicted, young people who are committing acts of violence and coming into contact with the legal system. Work that brings attention to the needs of youth in crisis is not just noble, it's critical. Work that suggests that youth who have become incarcerated deserve something more dignified than punishment is courageous. I encourage readers to go to the website for the Mind Body Awareness project and check out what is really at the heart of Dharma Punx. Finally, I respectfully suggest to a subset of previous reviewers:
We are ALL PRIVELAGED. Pax.
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING!!!!!
Review: This book is amazing. I picked it up and could not put it down. Definately will pass it on and recommend it! Noah has completely turned his life around and is doing something very positive for his community. Keep up the good work. Would love for Noah to come to Atlanta for some book signings.
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