By Danielle Marra

Jay Nussbaum’s second novel, “A Monk Jumped Over A Wall,” was just released Nov. 8. The premiere was a unique one, for it was a combination book-and-film premiere. Nussbaum promoted his novel with short teaser trailers that can be found on YouTube.com as well as short films that have been submitted to different film festivals.

His first novel, “Blue Road to Atlantis,” published in 2002, wasn’t well promoted; hence it did not have the opportunity to succeed. Therefore, a film director friend of Nussbaum’s presented him with this creative way to advertise. Rather than reading to five or six people at a time in book stores, over 8,000 people viewed the trailers on YouTube.com.

Nussbaum’s novel talks about how to find one’s true purpose in life-not just professionally, but spiritually and mentally as well. The title, “A Monk Jumped Over A Wall,” is taken from a Chinese metaphor about a monk who jumps over a wall to find the source of a delicious smell because of his own unhappiness with his current path in life.

So what creates the need to jump over the metaphoric wall? How do we know if we’re on the wrong path? These are questions every high school senior and college student needs to worry about. “It’s going to take some courage at some point because you’re going to have to change,” Nussbaum said.

“The reason I focus on speaking at universities and high schools is that I really do want people to start making better choices,” Nussbaum said. He knows from personal experience the unsettling pain that exists every day, “when you go to a job and have to check who you are in the mirror.”

“You have to ask the right questions,” Nussbaum added. He felt that his generation asked the wrong types of questions when it came to looking for their paths in life. Instead of, “Will I be happy?” people tended to ask, “How much will I get paid?” Nussbaum’s first novel addresses how to ask the right questions.

“A Monk Jumped Over A Wall” pays much attention to the consequences for those who do not find the right path in their life. Such consequences go much deeper than regret and can be much more catastrophic, according to Nussbaum. “They can break up marriages; they can end lives.” He adds, “People tend to dismiss the day to day of living, and if it’s affected, it’s a very painful life.”

When asked whether or not he himself had found the right path, Nussbaum replied, “Someone once said to me that being a writer is sort of like being gay in that you’re born that way, you know your life would be easier if you weren’t that way, or you may try to deny it for a while.” He adds, “I knew back in my teens that I was a writer, but I also recognized that the world wasn’t a logical place for a writer.”

Everyone has a path, Nussbaum says. “Again, I’m not just talking about careers-I’m talking about the mosaic that life is.” Things as far as your job, your family, and your religion: each has a path and each affects the current of one’s life.

Nussbaum’s novel is a logical read for any college student, as it touches on looking for jobs, relationships and more. He calls it “a very funny, fast-paced, easy read that explores critical issues that determine how people can realize their true path in life.”