THE RE-ENCHANTMENT OF EVERYDAY LIFE

Bestselling spiritual writer Moore (Soul Mates, 1994) offers sage guidance on how to develop a sense of wonder in a jaded world. With Care of the Soul (1992, not reviewed) Moore almost created his own genre: religious but nonsectarian; more mystical and traditional than M. Scott Peck; inspiring, yet more psychologically and intellectually grounded than most current ``inspirational'' writing. Here he expands on the theme of soul to address the problem of the merely functional, cynical way in which we view the world around us. Enchantment for Moore has at its roots a sense of the lyrical, with strong connotations of magic, ritual, and charm. In ten chapters, each with four sections, he discusses nature spirits, gardens, traveling, sexuality, politics, books, music, holy places, and astrology. Moore lets us see magic in the emotions and rituals of sport. He reminds us that museums are dwellings of the muses. He challenges us to think about what pilgrimage sites are characteristic of contemporary Americans. He can even see seeds of wonder in such unlikely sites as the world of business, or in pornographic graffiti. Moore is still very much indebted to Jung's notions of religion and mystery and to the writings of James Hillman. He reaches out to Greek religion, to the Buddhists and the Koran, to Plato, to Rennaissance magus Marsilio Ficino, to Emily Dickinson and many others, not to mention his own Irish ancestry and his (at times) idiosyncratic Catholic faith. Such rich fare makes for very stimulating reading, especially as Moore has a deep sensitivity to the etymologies and resonances of words, but it is not always clear where he is going in his desire to be inclusive, e.g., in his call for a ``theology'' that finally seems so eclectic as to be amorphous. (Book-of-the-Month Club dual/main selection; $250,000 ad/promo; author tour)