Finding the Buddha: A dark story of genius, friendship, and stand-up comedy

A mysterious man with a Midas touch delights the world but still seeks release from his own personal nightmare.Mark Wladika can do just about anything. As a high school sophomore, he demonstrates an uncanny grasp of quantum physics. As a young Marine, he is a master of hand-to-hand combat, capable of taking out men twice his size with a single blow. He is a cosmologist, a philosopher, an observer of the human condition, and - unbeknownst to anyone - a man plagued by sorrow, loss, and deep longing.One day, Wladika directs his genius to the art of stand-up comedy, and by doing so brings a new sense of hope to lackluster Albuquerque, New Mexico. As his fame grows, comedians, comedy aficionados, and businessmen alike believe that Wladika can transform the city, so much so that it will soon become to comedy what Chicago is to the blues, what New Orleans is to jazz, and what Hollywood is to movies.Finding the Buddha is told through the voices of six characters whose lives the comic profoundly affects. Each hopes to benefit from the Midas touch of the mysterious genius who rockets toward the top of the comedy world, unaware that he doesn't care about fame or fortune - he's on a quest.