Eat Mangoes Naked

When it comes to SARK, you expect puns, double entendres, and basically the most fun you can have with words. Her book Eat Mangoes Naked: Finding Pleasure Everywhere and Dancing with the Pits! is no exception.

SARK describes Eat Mangoes Naked as “Your pleasure traveling companion.” She gently reminds us throughout the colorful book that pleasure need not be from a traditionally joyful source; in fact, we can find pleasure in the most dark moments, or unexpected places, in our lives. The book’s sections, which are “dabs of pleasure for your days and nights,” include finding pleasure in nature, other people, difficult times, and where you are right now. SARK includes some of her own “pleasure mentors” to help show the way as well.

Also included, as SARK normally does, are specific ideas, lessons, and prompts to get creative juices flowing and the topic at hand—this time, pleasure—into your very being. One suggestion, for example, is to stop giving obligatory presents and instead only give gifts that are truly from your heart.

One of my favorite lessons in Eat Mangoes Naked is SARK’s point about creating pleasurable experiences. We often set ourselves up for something really exciting—a concert, a hot date, a day out with our family—and after building the event up for weeks we are suddenly significantly let down by how horrible it turns out. And is it really that horrible? Maybe, maybe not; but we feel like it is because we expected so much from it.

Instead, says SARK, instead of telling ourselves, “I’m going to have a great time!” we need to instead simply think of it as having a time. This relieves the pressure from the situation, and relieves us from expecting too much. Then we’re actually free to enjoy ourselves and create fun memories. How many times, after all, have you had a rough experience that was suddenly turned into something amazing? It’s actually a very simple concept, if we can just make ourselves do it.

Other trademark SARK is found throughout the book—recommended books, music, and other resources, personal photographs, and of course, her own fun, whimsical art. Some lovely pieces include “The Traveling Dream Chair,” “I Send You…” and “Dance with Color.” There are a few spaces to record your own thoughts, but like many of SARK’s books (aside from the Journal and Play! Book) there’s not a lot of space for that, so if you want to journey along with SARK through art or writing, read with an open notebook at your side.