by Darrell T. Hare
Bugs Bunny would be right to ask, "What's up, doc?" of this beguiling but facile fable about man's untapped divinity. The story begins in a meadow in the mysterious World-in-Between (a kind of karmic holding room where our spirits prepare for reincarnation). There, in a hollow log, we meet Ramar, a white rabbit with gossamer wings who has "the chance to bring the world some very great lessons it has somehow forgotten."
But before this New Age wascally wabbit can journey to Earth, he must be steeped in faith, love and compassion. His spiritual guides are the warm and wise Lydia the Cat, the Dove Who Rhymes with Love and a thoughtful butterfly named Leonardo. They all marvel at Ramar's intuitive wisdom and gawk as his sepia wings brighten into a rainbow of color each time he masters a life lesson.
Were its tone less earnest, this charming story (and its hero) might have taken flight in the manner of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Sadly, Ramar never soars. Hare (that's his real name), a former ad executive, embroiders his tale with a kind of dream sequence, then clutters the text with aphorisms about life. Here's one he forgot: "Carrots are divine, you get a dozen for a dime." (St. Martin's, $16.95)
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