An Englishwoman's amused yet sympathetic journey through the New Age culture of the American West. McGrath travels through New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Colorado on a kind of cynic's pilgrimage, to learn about New Age spirituality. On her journey she meets a wide cross-section of the walking wounded: people with remembered past lives, psychics, princesses from lost subterranean cities, damaged inner children, people ``working on themselves.'' Her account makes a fine contribution to the tradition of witty foreign commentary on US culture, and her approach to New Age spirituality—skeptical, with an eye for the hilarious and absurd—is thoroughly entertaining. Some of what she describes is devastating; in a chapter on the New Age appropriation of Native American culture, for instance, McGrath quotes one of her white seekers as saying that the Indians who are addicted to alcohol and gambling aren't really Indians: They're ``reincarnations of 19th-century white men, paying back bad karma. . . . Real Indians are spiritually pure.'' McGrath is a rare phenomenon: a European who can report on American racism and commercial excess without sounding self-righteous. It is not until the final chapter that we learn the extent of her own spiritual despair: that she has been depressed and suicidal throughout her adult life, looking for solace in various kinds of therapy and drugs. This section adds a self-reflectiveness and empathy to her story, making it clear that she identifies with people who are seeking meaning in their lives and that, in some ways, what brought her to the Southwest was not so far from what draws the New Agers. McGrath achieves a balance between mockery and understanding that is rare among commentators on contemporary spirituality.
Pub Date: May 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-312-14372-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Picador
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
