The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
                                    -Albert Einstein

   This quote begins Scott Russell Sanders's book Secrets of the Universe.
Throughout this book Sanders explores the realities of the universe as seen
from his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. He looks at different parts of
his existence in different parts of this work. He starts with himself and
moves to his family and then to the universe at large. He says, "The
movement outward to greater and greater circles is also a movement inward,
ever closer to the center from which creation springs" (x). He never claims
to be able to tell the reader how the universe works. He only searches for
where he came from and how he got to be where he is now.
   The book is separated into three different section. Each section deals
with a different aspect of Sanders's life. The first section deals with the
people that Sanders has come in contact with since his existence began. In
"Under the Influence", He discusses his father and his battle with
alcoholism. He describes listening to his mother and father argue about the
containers of alcohol that his father stashes in various places. Sanders
then moves on to tell about his son and playing ball with him. It is these
father and son moments that Sanders relishes because of his lack of them
with his own father.
    In the second section of the book, Sanders moves to tell about the
places that he has been. He tells about "The Jail" which was a beach house
that his family had at Cape Cod for a few summers. He relates the house
(which used to be a jailhouse) to the experiences that he had as a boy and
being trapped in a cardboard box.
    The last section deals with the vastness of the universe. Actually, the
section deals more with Sanders's own private universe, but everything still
relates to that past Sanders had with his father.
   While no actual universal secrets are learned from this book, Sanders
does causes a reader to think about his/her own life and try to develop a
secret or two of his/her own. This book was well written and captivating. I
could hardly put it down to watch "Friends".

-Danielle Stone