![\"image](\"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/jun-12-books.12.Endless-Blind-Passions-cover.jpg\")
<\/a>Vancouver writer Gareth Sirotnik\u2019s Endless Blind Passions<\/i> (Capsicum Press, 2025) jumps right into the chaos and uncertainty that 9\/11 sparked in the United States, and beyond. The novel centres on the character of Monty, a Jewish, gay man in his mid-50s, who thought he had finally settled into himself and his life, yet is forced to reevaluate that thought when the FBI arrive.<\/p>\nAlternating between the repeated visits of the FBI agents and the memories their inquiries trigger for Monty, we witness the fragility of Monty\u2019s contentment and the tumultuous paths that he has chosen. He has lived fully, most would say, experimenting sexually, spiritually, politically and morally. He is a seeker and his soul-searching is a work in progress, despite his initial belief that he had found himself \u2013 and peace \u2013 once he\u2019d met Jamal.<\/p>\n
Endless Blind Passions<\/i> is a thriller-meets-coming-of-age story, unusual perhaps in its seriousness, which sometimes gets in the way (as does dialogue that doesn\u2019t always sound natural), but it\u2019s entertaining. Most of us don\u2019t really \u201cfind\u201d ourselves as teenagers \u2013 Monty certainly didn\u2019t \u2013 but are continually discovering aspects of ourselves. In our lives, we do things that make us proud, and things that carry shame or regret. Hopefully, we learn from our experiences and become a better person, but who is even to say what that means.<\/p>\n
Sirotnik\u2019s personal journey inspires Monty\u2019s, that\u2019s for sure. Sirotnik grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from college in Portland, moved to Canada in 1971 (Monty\u2019s brother lives in Canada) and, most notably, is gay, Jewish and a longtime practitioner of Zen Buddhism.<\/p>\n
As the novel\u2019s title implies, Zen is a vital component of the story. Monty\u2019s spiritual awakening occurs alongside drug-fueled encounters and unconventional relationships. He works (both consciously and subconsciously) to strip away social personas and confront his \u201ctrue self.\u201d He lives intensely, even hedonistically, but not necessarily deeply in the introspective sense, or even in knowing his various romantic partners. His ego prevents him from seeing the reality of situations, including the impact of his own actions on others throughout his life.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s all on a personal level. Paralleling Monty\u2019s understanding of his \u201cblind passions\u201d is the realization that American society is not what it was, let\u2019s say, sold as being. Sept. 11, 2001, marked a significant increase in racism, xenophobia, paranoia, government surveillance \u2013 it did not create them. In the novel, Jamal represents \u201cthe other\u201d that became society\u2019s \u201cblind passion\u201d after the attacks that day on the United States, but Monty\u2019s past \u2013 though only going back 50ish years \u2013 highlights that the concept of \u201cthe other\u201d has existed as long as humanity.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the novel posits that true spiritual awakening only happens when we acknowledge our \u201cendless blind passions,\u201d drop our masks and face reality as our true selves. It does this in an engaging way, with readers learning a lot along the way, while rooting for love to win out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In Seattle, hours after the terrorist attacks of 9\/11, two FBI agents knock on Monty\u2019s door, asking questions about his Afghan partner, who has seemingly disappeared. How much does Monty really know about Jamal? What does he know about himself? Vancouver writer Gareth Sirotnik\u2019s Endless Blind Passions (Capsicum Press, 2025) jumps right into the chaos […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[2942,24902,6133,24900,3597,5701,1774,24901],"class_list":["post-49106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-2942","tag-endless-blind-passions","tag-fiction","tag-gareth-sirotnik","tag-politics","tag-spirituality","tag-terrorism","tag-zen-buddhism"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}