Suspended by No String

“Peter Himmelman’s songs and music have been my source of inspiration in the past two decades. Suspended by No String now takes us to the magical world of poetry and, with merciless honesty, transforms, elevates, and cuts deeply into every mundane bastion of reality. Warmly recommended!” 

—Judea Pearl, Turing Prize winner, author of The Book of Why, and Professor of Computer Science at UCLA 

“A soulful, beautiful, melancholy, joyful and redemptive journey with a creative genius of the heart. This is a prayer book, a hymnal, a sacred text you will revisit again and again.” 

—Steve Leder, New York Times bestselling author 

“Peter Himmelman has been a lifelong inspiration to me. In Suspended by No String, he shows us how we can embrace the joyful, open-hearted curiosity that truly feeds the soul.” 

—Peggy Orenstein, New York Times bestselling author 

“Every time one picks up a book, we hope that it will change us in some way. Like a great song or painting, we hope that it will make us feel something intensely enough to make us see the world in a different way, and to carry ourselves through the world in a new way. As Kafka said, “a book should be an axe for the frozen sea within us.” With his simple and thoughtful honesty, Peter accomplishes this kind of effect with this book. It sent me down roads that I hadn’t walked down for years. It made me sad, regretful, thoughtful, and made me remember things from my life that I had neatly tucked into the reliquary of lost memories. This is just about all that we can ask for when we pick up a book. It does all of this without being effortful or forced. Read it and let yourself go to places that you haven’t visited for years. It just might change you for a little while; an hour, a day, or even more.” 

—Larry Klein, multi-Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, and musician 

“Peter Himmelman has a great gift for helping us open our minds, discover new ideas, and express ourselves.” 

—Jonathan Eig, New York Times bestselling author of King, Ali, Capone, and Luckiest Man 

“A walking, living, breathing inspiration to many, Peter Himmelman embodies spirit, wit, song, and faith in a cool and seamless fashion. Suspended by No String captures this kaleidoscopic energy in so many diverse and delightful ways. It is guaranteed to uplift, galvanize, and propel the reader towards a no-strings-attached life, suspended by success.” 

—Simon Jacobson, New York Times bestselling author of Toward a Meaningful Life 

“In a time of relentless information, it feels like we’ve lost the ability to appreciate the mystical. In Suspended by No String, Peter Himmelman shows us how to recapture the mystic in a tangible way. By putting hand to musical instrument, pen to paper, and thought to action, we can become a little bit holy. And in these times, as in every other time, a little bit of holy is beautifully mortal.” 

—Sherman Alexie, poet, bestselling author, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

“The creative mind of Peter Himmelman is illuminated through the lens of his philosophical and existential reflections in this fascinating blend of memoir, personal journal, and self-help inquiry. Our fascinating guide’s ‘notes to self’ are an invitation to ask ourselves fundamental questions about life and death, the meaning of experience, and how to awaken our own minds to address these important foundations of our time, here in these material bodies, on this journey of life on Earth.” 

—Daniel J. Siegel, MD, New York Times bestselling author of IntraConnected, Mind, and Aware 

“Peter Himmelman is one of the most talented, smartest, coolest cats I know (or ‘Katz,’ depending on where you grew up). The breadth of his knowledge, interests, and curiosity is a remarkable thing, and here he has tapped it all to concoct this delicious, fun-to-read, inspiring, spiritual soup. Grab a spoon and dive in. I promise you, only good will come from reading this.” 

—Paul Reiser, comedian, actor, and New York Times bestselling author 

“Peter Himmelman’s latest book, Suspended by No String, pushes us toward believing in the innate spiritual capacities we often lock away out of fear of falling short of our dreams.” 

—Mike Sullivan, retired US Army colonel 

“In Suspended by No String, Peter Himmelman manages to synthesize his experiences as an extraordinary musician and songwriter, his faith, and some hard-earned life lessons into a stunningly simple yet profound collection, which will awaken anyone and everyone’s innate spirituality.” 

—Steve Berlin, producer, saxophonist with Los Lobos 

“Music is a form of prayer, a language that speaks of the heart’s deepest desire, and Peter Himmelman is that rare neshama [soul] who can translate the ineffable into the practical.” 

—Ben Sidran, internationally acclaimed jazz musician and author