(appeared on Page D1, Arts and Entertainment section)

Posted with permission of The Tribune

High praise for ISU professor's book on life's complex questions

Gurpur Prabhu of Ames has done a lot of thinking in his life about "who we are" and "where we come from." Growing up in India under the influences of Sri Ramakrishna and a great uncle who was a writer, philosopher, teacher and religious leader of Hinduism, those questions and the whole philosophy of life gave Prabhu much food for thought.

These days Prabhu, a professor of computer science at Iowa State University, has taken the ageless struggle of man and the significance of life a step further. He has put his thoughts on paper. Why is there something instead of nothing? And the journey of his thoughts is Prabhu's first fiction book, "Anita's Legacy: An inquiry into First Cause." He said that for him, the book has unified the threads of religion and science.

"They do have a common meeting ground," he said, adding the book is a provocative, humorous and inspirational story that offers a fresh look at unusual patterns of philosophical thought.

"I have not provided answers for everyone," he said of his work. "It is looking at struggles personally that have come from (within) -- some ever since I was a child. They are struggles for answers that I have read about, that others have written about -- questions that bother you sometime."

Over his 20 years of academic experience, Prabhu has written a great many technical papers on complex concepts and even a textbook on computer architecture. But this is his first venture into fiction.

"It is surprising to me that I can do fiction -- it came about through my muse," he said. "I had to honor those memories; I did not know where the plot was going and there was even a mystery character. It was a strange experience for me, and people tell me they can't put the book down."

Prabhu, 47, noted that he plans to write a nonfiction version of the book that will unify philosophy, science, and religion.

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Prabhu: Critics enjoy Iowa State professor's book

"It's not Danielle Steel, but it is a good experience to do some soul searching."

"In Anita's Legacy, it is about fiction things and the need in life for us to change," he said. We see (the characters) doing real life things with real life struggles which have an impact. It raises mortality issues, and what I want is for readers to go to other sources and find answers for themselves."

The title has its own unique story, Prabhu said.

"It is a sad story," he said. "In 1996 I was returning from a trip to Turkey and landed in Frankfurt (Germany). I didn't want to spend the money to sleep at a Holiday Inn, so I went to McDonald's to have a coffee. I had my notebook and was jotting down some thoughts when I had a brief meeting with a young girl named Anita. She had blood cancer and was on her way (for treatment). We just sort of became attached for the moment. I don't even know what happened to her, but I remembered her name."

As for the critics, Dr. Frederick Franck, best-selling author of many books on Eastern philosophies including What Does It Mean To Be Human, wrote, "I find the impulse of the book heroic, respect it deeply and have great admiration for (Gurpur's) courage to transform into fiction matters of our deepest concern. Readers are sure to be enriched by discovering its hidden treasures."

Another reviewer of the story, Tabby Balasubramanian, wrote, "This is a moving, tantalizing book. It spins together so many strands of thought from such a variety of sources that it's surprising that it hangs together at all. In this grand synthesis of wisdom and knowledge, there is a lot of food for reflection. I would recommend this greatly for anyone who loves pondering the eternal questions of life -- Who are we? Why are we here? Where did the universe come from? Where is it going?"

Prabhu said the book's publication date is August 2000 but copies will be available in late June.