Synopsis

From an Ivy League classroom, to deep inside an ayahuasca ceremony, from a Big-Ten basketball locker, to a sex dungeon under the 405 freeway in Los Angeles. From the dusty carnival of Burning Man to the synagogue of his youthful Bar Mitzvah, Zachary Puchtel brings the reader through a myriad of fringe cultural activities with both color and punchy humor, all while providing a running internal narrative of lessons learned on the road less traveled.

Why I Wish I Was Your Big Brother will carry readers to places beyond your comfort zone and outside known realms of possibility. Not unlike the generations prior, who sought Kesey and Wolfe, the book provides a journey across the battlefield of adolescence as a crash course in self-learning, exploration and sexual empowerment.

In an era of vigilant individualism, of YouTube celebrity and autotune, a new kind of man emerges, one infused with The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida, whom also thinks highly of You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero, and finds personal solace in Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson and essays of love by Khalil Gibran.

This book wonders, what if I could have been your Big Brother? Or perhaps, what if I’d been my own Big Brother? How would things be different? What choices might have changed? What guidance would I give myself?

In this creative nonfiction piece our protagonist goes from a socially-conditioned, confused childhood star athlete, who was led by the social ambiguity of sexual identity in today’s world, to coming out of the closet as gay his senior year at Harvard in front of crowd of three thousand people, only to realize after a number of trial runs gone sour, that he was simply searching after the reclamation of his own inner feminine.

Watch Puchtel cascade through vignettes of counter cultural experiences, from the profane to the sacred, to ultimately transform into a state of radical self-awareness. Armed with the audacity of formulating a new paradigm, Why I Wish I Was Your Big Brother flourishes where abusive “powerful men” have faded away. Puchtel embodies new standards such as kindness, emotional intelligence, and sexual authenticity as the definitive elements for what it means to be a man in this post-Harvey Weinstein era.

Framed in the light of recent US events, Puchtel offers a new lens, through which one can see the ugly truth of the men who run our political and entertainment industries. As the dust settles on sexual scandals, books like Big Brother, clear a path for cultures to remember that we are constantly morphing, and that we can exist and operate as loving, kind, and joyful human beings. Big Brother is a framework for how to shift our inner reality, which is the only way to effect lasting change in the world.

In Big Brother, Puchtel gives a glimpse into how, through devices like radical responsibility, we can each change the world on a daily basis, through our conscious consumer decisions as well as voting with our attention for the miraculous. By being aware of, and honing the ability to shift our innermost words and thoughts, Zach redesigns his lifestyle habits, ultimately offering a solution that helps to create the peaceful, regenerative, and kind society that he dreams of.

This book is for young adults curious to explore the realms of consciousness, the halls of academia, and the mystical alternative lifestyle that is fomenting in places like southern California. The book speaks particularly towards men ages 18-25, looking to make a major step in their lives. Big Brother delves into ways we can overcome societal and familial conditioning, reinforcing that men are allowed to have emotions, to feel, and to know our feminine energy as an intimate part of our full self.

Outline

This creative non-fiction piece is essentially a novelized biopic that served as both an internal catharsis for the processing of Putchel’s own experiences, and grew into a way of speaking to his younger self.

These titles indicate the various stories that comprise this book. They stories read as short vignettes, and are meant to each contain their own moral that can be extracted upon the completion of any given chapter. Also, the titles themselves indicate the lesson at hand, enabling the reader to proceed with an expectation.

1. A Harvard Professor’s Unforgettable Lesson
   
2. The Absence of Sacred Ritual in a Modern World
   
3. Gladiator Archetypes in the Sports Arena
   
4. Gay Clubbin’ in Dingy Downtown Boston
   
5. Dancing To Bob Marley in a Grocery Store
   
6. What it was like to be a Jock in High school
   
7. Sex Dungeon Under the 405 Freeway
   
8. Freeing My Inner Man Burning Man
   
9. “Becoming a Man” in Judaism
   

There are 35 chapters total, each comprised of their own journey and moral. The first ten titles above give a sense of the style of how each chapter title will feel.

Audience

Jill is eighteen and she just finished applying to five different colleges. There is a party this evening and she’s coordinating with her girlfriends what outfits to wear and when to meet up. She doesn’t need to be home at midnight anymore, and this newly found sense of freedom is empowering to her, if not also a little bit scary. Jill’s friends love her because she doesn’t give a fuck, takes no shit from boys, and always has their back in a pinch. They look up to her so much they even went as far as to apply to the same schools that she’d been talking about over the last year: Vassar, NYU, Warton, Duke, and Berkeley. She is a cultural trend setter, loves fashion and has 2K followers on Instagram who love watching her talk candidly about her high school escapades. Jill gets a copy of Big Brother from her boyfriend, just two years older, who studies Business at State and says that it changed his life. She puts her copy in her purse in case she gets bored at the party, and orders an Uber...

Jack is a college junior, Anthropology major who’s friends already have internships with tech-start ups and venture capital firms lined up for summer. He checks his social media incessantly, hoping that his liking of other people will result in him being more liked and accepted himself. He’s quieter than he used to be, after reading books by Eckhart Tolle and David Deida, and he’s beginning to see there’s a missing piece to life that he has yet to grasp. His current girlfriend runs the show with little opposition, while wondering how to find his masculine voice without coming across as aggressive or domineering in today’s modern landscape. After reading a blog on masculinity, he follows a link to the Kindle store, and reads the first chapter of Big Brother. After perusing the table of contents, Jack feels like he is listening to a cool older brother, and excitedly downloads a copy.

Jack and Jill and people like them, those who want to regain power over their own minds and lives, and/or simply get a fresh take on sexuality and spirituality in a contemporary world.

Jill has too much of everything. Too many playlists on Spotify, too many pairs of shoes, too many programs that she must binge-watch to stay up on the latest conversations... She is a power house and knows it, constructing her persona after influences such as Ellen, Gal Gadot, and Rachel Maddow. She has definitely read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling, and has found materialistic popularity while turning a blind eye to her inner-calling for a deeper sense of purpose. She is like many young leaders today, driven by fiscal results, but severed from their soul-connected path. Jill is a spiritual-anemic poised to recognize her own condition.

Jack’s material possessions are scarce, he’s a shoelace poet intellectual-type seeking to fulfill his inner desire to get rid of the anxiety and confusion which cloud his mind and stifle his emotional growth. With an open mind to new ideas, he’s already read, The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, Be Here Now by Baba Ram Dass, and This Is It by Alan Watts, and he’s interested in continuing this exploration of what it means to “go within”. He feels a sense of pride for his personal morals and being on the edge of what’s new and hip. He’s made an effort to both pull from past cultural icons, as well as staying after class to poke questions at his more interesting professors, in order to seek this deeper understanding of self and reality.  

Jack and Jill are America’s young heros, both men and women, each at the onset of their own life quest, looking for meaning, humor and a way to understand the world and their place in it.  

As a guide through the roller coaster turns of life, Big Brother provides a template both through pitfalls and successes, to realize the immense possibilities of experience and self-exploration possible in every moment. Generally speaking, our target demographic will read this book because it contains adventures that they have not yet had the opportunity to explore.

Jill reads it because she’s dating an older guy who is interested in sexuality and masculinity, and he said that he thought it would help her understand him.

Jack reads it because he is exploring the internet for answers to his own masculinity, and finds a link to Big Brother on a David Deida type blog.

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The share of 18-24 years olds who use online dating has roughly tripled from 10% in 2013 to 27% today. This shift from interpersonal to intra-digital dating indicates a greater need for authentic communication in a swipe-based dating culture. As authentic communication is the crux of Big Brother, this book is poised to assist positive results amidst this rising trend.

According to a new study from the national institute on drug abuse, the use of the psychedelic drug LSD has increased by 40% among 18-25 year olds. The medicinal aspect of “drugs” is something long explored in the medical industry, and yet significantly absent in today’s usage culture. This statistic indicates a dramatic increase in experimentation and self-exploration, cue Big Brother, a book that shows how to utilize the psychedelic experience towards the highest personal intentions of self-growth and emotional clarity.  

According to a recent Pew Article, “Americans may be getting less religious, but feelings of spirituality are on the rise.” The percentage of people who feel a deep sense of spiritual well-being has gone from 52% in 2007 to 59% in 2014, while those who feel a deep sense of wonder about the universe at least once a week, has increased from 39% in 2007 to 46% in 2014. People are opening up to spirituality across the board, and are in search of new sources for their journeys. Big Brother, which traverses the over-educated hyper masculine gauntlet, carries a voice well positioned to satiate this rising spiritual curiosity in America.

There is a sacred vacuum in the heart of America’s young men and women. The problem is these young kids, aged 18-25, don’t have a big brother who loves them. They are from divorced over-educated families, surrounded by multitudes of screens fueled by advertising and hyper-materialism that prey on the weakness of their inexperience. Big Brother invites this generation on a journey of self-empowerment through the fringe circus of reality, a sort of cultural speed-dating, ultimately functioning as a balm for their curiosity amidst desperate isolation, sexual ennui and spiritual insecurity.

The message is universal, but the perspective of a masculine man being so scared, conditioned, and confused that he believed himself to be gay, offers a unique insight into modern sexuality and the culture of identity.

Why I Wish I Was Your Big Brother is a tool kit for identity and exploration, and something that inspires them to look inside, not on the screen, for what they really want in life. The 22 year old Harvard sophomore who’s coding the next Facebook and wondering why nobody will date him, can pick up Big Brother and find a big brother. One that loves him and encourages his dreams, that speaks to the difficulties of dating in the modern world and exploring one’s life purpose, both in terms of sexuality and spirituality.

Why I Wish I Was Your Big Brother appeals certainly to young people: 18-25 men specifically, but also anyone who is still searching for their true self. By and large Big Brother was written to connect with the cracked nuts, the ones who have already started doing the work to know themselves, the ones who have questions about sexuality and spirituality, the ones who are looked up to by their peers, people who are opening up their minds to explore reality and challenge commonly held beliefs: athletes, psychonauts, intellectuals, hippies, story-tellers, and explorers of all types.

Promotion

With the intention of generating long term interest in my desired market demographic I’m outlining a Collegiate Book Tour of ~20 campuses over a 6 week period to follow the release of my book. It will begin at my Alma Mater, Harvard University, and from connections I developed in Cambridge, branch out to MIT, Boston University, and Tufts. Drawing connections from the land I grew up in, I will hop over to Minneapolis, and give speaking engagements at The University of Minnesota (also an Alma Mater), Augsburg College, Macalester College, Carlton, as well as a few Jr. Colleges. In California, where I currently live, I will engage connections to speak at The University of California, University of Southern California, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount University, and LA City College. From there I’ll head north to speak at Stanford University, and onto the University of San Francisco, and then UC Berkeley.  

The college audience is ripe for the message in Big Brother, and what better way to deliver that message than in person. Moreover, I will leverage my experience as a professional musician, performance poet, and master leadership trainer (MITT certified), to endear these audiences into the stories and lessons in Big Brother, primarily focused on radical responsibility and emotional intelligence.

Think Tony Robbins, Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, if they were composing a coming of age story, designed to appeal to highly educated, super individualistic, technology savvy, App-heavy, spiritually clueless, life-path stumbling 18-25 year old young adults in the USA looking for something more meaningful than American Idol.

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Zach Puchtel is a well-connected, digitally active, popular socialite living on the Westside of Los Angeles. From video clips orating passages of the book in interesting locations, to funny memes dealing with sexuality and spirituality, to general word of mouth possibilities amidst the myriad of parties and social events he attends, PuchtelI is well poised to engineer a viral distribution of Why I Wish I was Your Big Brother.

4,000 email addresses combining data culled from my Gmail, LinkedIn, and Facebook accounts.

4.5K Facebook Friends, 1.9K Facebook Followers, 2.2K Instagram Followers (@zachpuchtel), 600 Pinterest Followers, 600 Twitter Followers

Successfully met goal of 5,000 USD, which consists of 250 pre-ordered copies of ‘Why I Wish I Was Your Big Brother: A Harvard Jock Fumbles through Self-doubt, Sexuality, and Psychedelics to reclaim his inner feminine in a hyper-masculine world.’

Last five videos on Facebook have an aggregate view count of 5.5K. Last five videos on Instagram have an aggregate view count of 1.5K.

WhyIWishIWasYourBigBrother.com / WhyIWish.com / ZachPuchtel.com all leading to the same website is under construction and coming soon!

Podcasts:
The One and Only with Mark Shapiro
The Deep Dive with Adam Roa

Speaking engagements:
Open Temple in Venice Beach
Benevolence Fest in Santa Monica
Temple Israel in Minneapolis
BethEl Synagogue in Minneapolis

Committed to a Blurb:
Jason Collins (First Professional Gay Athlete)

Considering a Blurb:
Mooji (Awaiting the Script for Review)
Huffington Post contributing blogger from March 1, 2010-May 1, 2014.
Unplugged LA feature performer and Speaker

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Big Brother is written to be ‘screenplay-option ready’, composed with vignettes or short dramatic scenes from the absurd and fringe.

Keywords: Self-Help, Transformational, Spirituality, Psychedelics, Sexual Exploration, Self-Knowledge, Soul Journey, Hero’s Journey, Evolution

Competition

1. The Leap: The Psychology of Spiritual Awakening. Steve Taylor. New World Library February 15, 2017
   
1. Taylor paints a picture in this book of how enlightenment is our most natural state. I echo much of his sentiment and add the twist that we are all at different stages of our enlightenment, or remembrance of that natural state of being.
   

2. The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire. David Deida

1. One of the predominant works in the field of masculine spiritual empowerment and sexual awareness, Deida gives us tools and methods to live in our highest spiritual selves. I’ve read this book 5 times, and much of my personal learning has come from its teachings. Why I Wish I Was Your Big Brother provides first hand accounts of many situations which Deida describes, and thus adds a personal element to his teachings.
   
3. The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible. Charles Eisenstein. North Atlantic Books, 2013. Sound True, Inc. 2004.
   
1. Eisenstein shows us, how through kind and conscious actions, we can help to break down the illusion of separateness, and create a new, more loving world based off love and acceptance. In learning to love and accept myself, I’ve seen how making internal changes can lead to a happier and more connected community and overall life. I’ve taken many of his concepts and integrated them into my vision for the world which I share throughout the book.
   

4. Male Sexuality: Why Women Don't Understand It-And Men Don't Either. Michael Bader. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. November 16, 2010

1. Bader attempts to help men understand their sexual desires and natural ebbs and flows of attraction in life and relationships. Having experienced much of roller coaster ride of sex and attraction, I aim, much the same as Bader, to help men see sex as the sacred act it is, and to honor their own journey of self-knowledge through all experiences.
   
5. Sidewalk Oracles: Playing with Signs, Symbols, and Synchronicity is Everyday Life. Robert Moss. New World Library, 2015.
   
1. “Synchronicity is when the universe gets personal.” Moss shows us through personal examples how interconnected all things in this divine plane really are. I take a page out of his book, and share a number of thoughts for how we can all be more aware of that connectivity on a daily basis.