Following the 81-chapter model of the Tao Te Ching, this book explores the ineffable, indefinable spirit of Daytona Beach, Florida, and what it means to be a Daytona sage. Although there are moments of humor, The Tao of Daytona is just as serious, mystical, and centering as the famed Tao. It is a way of life for men and women of varying shades of skin who live in one inimitable place that is often caricatured but rarely understood. One part Hillbilly Elegy, one part Seven Storey Mountain, and true to the spirit of the Tao Te Ching, The Tao of Daytona illustrates the way of life that allows its adherents to be calm during the storm, generous without being gullible, American without being partisan, and instructed by experience without nursing grievances.

Theresa V. O'Brien is a freelance journalist with a background in English literature. She earned her B.A. from Harvard in 2000, and has been writing professionally since then, from tech analysis to local and national journalism, for which she has won multiple statewide awards.

She has interviewed people from all walks of life, with all kinds of stories to tell, and even when she is not working, she is observing and feeling, with deep sympathy, what animates and motivates and fuels each person. She has tried to bring that sympathy, with respect to the people of Daytona, to this book.