3During the nineties, young people were encouraged by their movie and music idols to follow their dreams. It was a time when grunge-loving kids replaced corduroy pants and plaid shirts with baggy pants and bandanas. Nintindos were replaced by Xbox and PlayStation systems. Big dial televisions and box computers were swapped for laptops and flat-screen plasmas. As millennials grew up, they would become the last generation to live free of dependence on technology. Alexander Cristini was one of those millennials. In a unique memoir, Alexander intertwines the five pieces of his inner self-Psychedelic, Philosophy, Plumbing, Prophecy, and Peacemaker-to recapture an era through the eyes of a child. As Alexander brings others back in time, he shares interesting historical facts accompanied by personal anecdotes that reveal his experience taking magic mushrooms at age twelve and discovering a new way of looking at life and nature; his philosophies about health, the influence of rap music, and the wise individuals who became part of his thought processes; and his views about spirituality as both a child and man. Five Pieces of Solace combines historical facts with personal stories to call out to a generation of people to question, examine, and contemplate their own lives and purposes.