Eric Weiner knows some very interesting people, and does some very interesting things. Frankly, I wouldn't have the patience to spend as much time as he did on esoteric religions. If I had _any_ religious leanings, I would be more interested in the religions themselves that he describes; as it stands, my interest was in his journey itself. I remain an atheist after reading this book.

I wanted to love this book. I just got bogged down in information overload. I instead read The Geography of Bliss and absolutely loved it so I may try again. I really enjoy Eric Weiner's writing style. At times laugh out loud funny, and then so insightful.

Ironic that I finished this book the day after Easter, I suppose. Overall, I would say this is about a three and a half star book. When the author wasn't feeling sorry for himself or making snide comments, he was quite a good writer and I learned some interesting things about various religions. As mentioned in another comment, I did have to wonder about some of his choices to explore. Did he really consider a religion based on UFO's for himself? Hmmmm....

Książka, po którą warto sięgnąć, jeżeli chce się poznać świat. Świat, który tworzą liczne kultury i wyznania. Weiner zabiera nas w interesującą podróż po całym świecie śladami różnych religii, spotykając wyznawców buddyzmu, judaizmu, taoizmu, chrześcijańska czy raelinów (wzynawców UFO).
Po więcej zapraszam na: www.pudelka-zapalek.blogspot.com

Plus: Very interesting people and travels, and powerful insights, some really funny moments.

Minus: I found his snarky humor got in the way of the presentation. It's very informal, some of his subjects might even call it blasphemous, but it is contemporary.
As another reviewer stated, in a few cases the presentation of a religion is incorrect - Weiner says that Buddhism is atheist, but as a Buddhist instructor I would say non-theistic rather than atheist. Buddhism doesn't offer an opinion about God. In fact it has been called it a spiritual philosophy rather than a religion. (We don't pray to any higher God - generally speaking. Don't get me started on the details...)

To learn more deeply about different spiritual practices one should continue to read other books.
On Buddhism, I've recently enjoyed [b:Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha|241899|Old Path White Clouds Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha|Thich Nhat Hanh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328767457l/241899._SY75_.jpg|255251] by [a:Thich Nhat Hanh|9074|Thich Nhat Hanh|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1428785775p2/9074.jpg] - a book which is about the life history of Gautama Buddha. I am looking forward to reading [b:Discovering Buddhism|60603176|Discovering Buddhism|Dominique Side|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1647179628l/60603176._SY75_.jpg|95528875] by [a:Dominique Side|3882351|Dominique Side|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] (Disclosure - I know the author.)

While reading this book, I spent the majority of this this book thinking, "I can't tell whether I like this guy or not." On one hand, I too am an enthusiastic coffee drinker. I too enjoy reading, writing, and hanging around coffee shops (I prefer Caribou to Starbucks). However, Weiner writes much of his story in a somewhat cocky and self-centered tone. And why not? It's a story about himself, after all.
I think what I was hoping for was a more informative and less autobiographical description of various world religions. While I too have flirted with the divine, dabbling in several local churches before finding one I loved, my approach was geared toward simply being a culturally informed human being, rather than fulfilling a quest sparked by a bad bout of gas. Additionally, Weiner didn't just test out the most common denominations of any particular religion. He chose the far reaches of them, from the poverty of the Fransicans to the wackiness of the Raelians. Not to say that there is anything necessarily wrong with this, but I can't fathom jumping feet-first into a wildly different religion without first testing the waters. For example, I would want to visit a Catholic Mass to check it out before deciding to spend several weeks in a Franciscan homeless shelter. I can only assume that Weiner did his research beforehand; but if he did do any testing, he didn't mention so.
By the end of the book, I liked him a little more (despite finding out he looks nothing like I imagined). I think he got it right: "What do you believe?" isn't the relevant question. "What do you experience?" may be the more important inquiry. At least, that was something I discovered for myself when visiting different churches. Having been raised Catholic, I discovered that I am most comfortable in a liturgical-style church, rather than one with a Christian rock band blaring at 9am on a Sunday. Is there anything wrong with the early-morning rock band? No. It just doesn't work for me.
Ultimately, while I may be a bit put-off by Weiner's lack of detail when describing characteristics of the various religions, I can understand and appreciate his journey. Did I find this book entertaining? Sure. Am I craving more from this author? Not really.

I enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure that I liked it.

Weiner is a great writer and is well able to articulate thoughts and feelings about himself and religion that most would find uncomfortable to do and to write. And for that, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

However, I felt that his explorations of the religions he picked were all dilettante-ish.

Notwithstanding the fact that I don't think you can uncover all there is to know about a religion in a few weeks, he dipped his toe in and then decided he didn't like the temperature of any water. And that is more than fair - after all, it is his choice as to what speaks to his heart in regards to religion, but he still picked very narrow examples of the religions he chose to study. I'm not fully convinced he gave each the chance it deserved.

He studied Buddhism in Nepal (awesome), but from a variety of ex-pats, Brits and Americans (less-authentic). He also only looked at Tibetan Buddhism, he didn't mention any of the other varieties (Zen, Chinese, Indian, Soka Gakkai, Theravada Buddhism..etc.) and I'm also not 100% sure that what he took from those experiences is the full-sum of what Tibetan Buddhism is.

Weiner did the same thing with Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Choose a very specific interpretation of it, and then when he didn't like it, just wrote the entire religion off.
I'm all for doing that from a base theological/philosophical standpoint (i.e. the main philosophical standpoint of the entire religion) - but Weiner didn't do that. He discarded an entire religion from an experience he didn't like.

After reading about his somewhat-Jewish upbringing in New York I'm not sure why he went to Orthodox Kabbalist's for his exploration of Judaism. I think he would have felt more at home with Reform or Reconstructionist Judaism - and I don't mean the "Reform" Jews who only go to Synagogue once a year - there are spiritually, theologically and philosophically active people in those strains of Judaism. I think that Weiner may have felt more at home with that. I think that may have made a less interesting and less exotic read, but a more true one.

I'm not sure why he included Wicca and Shamanism in this book - those chapters both felt like afterthoughts. And I think that the reader can sense, from his writing, his disdain for those practitioners and those religions. From an anthropological standpoint his discussion of Shamanism was woefully lacking.

I suppose I was looking for something more in-depth on each of the religions - or at least more philosophical. I also can't say that I was much able to connect with him as a person. He comes across as a neurotic, slightly annoying, narcissistic writer.

Still - an interesting read - and I'd recommend it to people only for the conversations I'm sure it will spark.

Witty, humorous and at times annoying and a little bit of a drag. Weiner has a near death experience which is just gas-that figures, and embarks on a spiritual quest. I can sympathize as my chest pains were all muscular, so I know what of he speaks but it's still rather comical. Weiner has to be the most neurotic person I've ever met-bibliographically speaking. We hear all about his OCD and impatience and depression and suicide thoughts. Sounds like a confession. We encounter a strange cult founded by a Frenchman, Raelism, as well as the major religions. We start out with Sufism and end up with Kabbalah. So in the end he's back to where he started but now's he's a more enlightened Jew. No Mormons or Islamic purists as they probably might not have been so tolerant of his presence. Nor did he visit Hinduism or Zoroastrianism. But nevertheless, a stimulating book searching for the answers to the basic questions of life. He had no religion before he started, now he's got several. You have to admire his candor and I enjoyed how he seemed more relaxed than in his previous book where he would never cross the line into open friendship as he was obssessed with maintaining his journalistic objectivity and integrity.
adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

aurodon's review

3.0

For most of the book, I was a bit disappointed - this is very autobiographical, which means you read about the author's struggles to comprehend and connect with each religion, rather than really understanding the religion's values themselves. But I liked the last section very much, and felt that it sort of "explained" why the rest of the book was the way it was. I definitely took some ideas away to continue exploring.