This slim, pulsating volume of poetic utterances treats us to a meandering spiritual odyssey on the part of the author, a cultured man always seeking to find to find himself, attempting to reconcile existence with the puzzling mysteries and contradictions of the universe. On his sojourn Douglass lingers in Christianity, Buddhism and humanism, but ultimately finds his soul and contentment in the Mojave desert and the Chemehuevi people. Lessons culled from his Biblical-like wanderings in the desert are conveyed with simplicity and force. Ben Douglass' Beneath The Surface is a little book well worth your time."John Maxwell O'Brien, Emeritus Professor of history (Queens College, CUNY).