FOLEY, Ala. — Born in a small town In England, he became a world traveler and today is a resident of Foley. All along the way Jonathan T. Baxter — “Baxter” for short — has been DoinLife.

The fact that Baxter has chosen a title for his book that is associated with the world of corrections and prison-life underscores the fact that he has encountered prison walls — albeit metaphorical walls — in his journey: “The prison walls that we construct within ourselves to prevent further pain, and the damage it causes.”

But exactly what is DoinLife, this 111-page book published by Xlibris Corp.?

Baxter says the book is about discovering love and, in the process, finding himself. He says the book holds answers to “everyday issues” — “pieces of wisdom” that he has gleaned along the way while DoinLife.

Perhaps the book is about one of these or all of them, but one thing is certain: DoinLife isn’t a book for everybody.

If the reader is adventurous enough to step outside his own worldview and into Baxter’s worldview — one informed by a number of love interests, world travel, and service as a crew member of Her Majesty’s Royal Yacht “Brittania”; if the reader can tolerate opinions about marriage, religion and sexual mores that perhaps are not the norm in “Lower Alabama”; and if the reader can tolerate painful introspection into the human condition, the reader will probably enjoy this book and find it cool that one of the Queen’s crew members lives in Foley.

For those who like their world vanilla, however, DoinLife might be disturbing. At the outset, Baxter says most of his writing isn’t “politically correct.” Case in point: “It would be quite easy to take this book along the Christian path and totally get immersed, but I, like many others, have experienced a tremendous amount of bad Christianity.” Another: “There will come a time, and I base this thought on the growing divorce rate, that marriage licenses will be for a term. A period of five, or ten year increments.”

The fact that Baxter has known so many women and writes about sexual mores and the man-woman chemistry could be too much for some, though he never gets lurid or graphic in his writing. Keep in mind, he says the book is about discovering (true) love and finding himself.

Again, in deciding to purchase and read DoinLife the reader should determine just how much he or she is willing to let others’ earthly journey be different from their own. If you think the world must march in lock step with you and your perception of reality, Baxter would probably urge you to skip this read.

There is a certain energy in DoinLife; there is an excitement and zest that seems to fill the man Baxter. The book is a bit convoluted at times; Baxter gets ahead of himself at points and has to go back and pick up threads. Also, Baxter gets a little preachy at times, as in the instance where he urges the reader to stop procrastinating and go see the world, and what he calls “wisdom” is actually pretty standard fare. For example, “Success is not the material things that you gain; success is the ability to live without the material things.”

There are, however, thought-provoking moments in the book. In Chapter 3 he writes: “First of all, I was an introvert, an introvert who was never allowed to be an introvert, an introvert who had no idea what an introvert was.”

Raised in what he calls a “loveless home,” Baxter eventually joined the Royal Navy and became the guy who helped everyone else with their love problems — “Mr. Fixit,” he calls himself at that point. He came to realize he was alone, so he set out to change that. Through the years there were many relationships, some which failed because of him, others because of the significant other at the time. In the end, Baxter celebrates finding himself as a result of what he calls the “true value of a woman’s love.”

However much Baxter’s experience might be different from yours or mine, he is Everyman in that his journey had produced highs and lows, successes and failures, tears and laughter. That he has dared write about his personal failures and flaws in an attempt to share what he has learned is no small thing. That he feels he has found himself after traveling the world and meeting people is an even greater thing. God Save the Queen!

DoinLife is available at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and Xlibris.com or may be ordered through your local bookseller. The book may be purchased from Xlibris by calling 1-888-795-4274, ext. 7876.