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margyly's review against another edition
5.0
Nat Kuhn recommended this book during a long car ride when he drove me from Dad’s beach house to the Option Institute in MA/CT in the fall of 2003. I’d mentioned that a new women’s reading group was looking for books that we could read and discuss a chapter at a time, and I chose this one from among his suggestions. Its a survey of the available “paths to wisdom"in the America of the 1980s and 1990s, written by a successful journalist who was finding life empty and meaningless. I gave a copy to Grandma Diane for Christmas 2003.
cyndil's review against another edition
5.0
This book was great. It's a comprehensive analysis of just about every way Americans go about finding more wisdom, inner peace, enlightenment, self-awareness, and an overall more full life. The author took 5 years to interview experts and practice multiple scientific, psychological, religious, philosophical and even mystic disciplines in his own very personal search for more meaning in his life. The information he provides is extremely detailed and his analysis is right on the money. I've dog-eared multiple pages to re-read or to follow up by reading books by many of the experts he interviewed. I will read this one again and recommend it to everyone.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review
4.0
I spent all last Sunday afternoon reading this book. It’s an older book, with a copyright in the 90’s, so some of it comes across as a bit dated. I grimaced here and there, reading about some of the “wisdom” Schwartz sought, using the power of brain waves, for example, acts I’ve always tended to regard as hocus-pocus mumbo jumbo. I carried away a lot of positive scientific evidence for meditation; I will seek more information about that. I also learned that one study found 75% of people have some sort of back problems but experience no pain. Curious. I was especially interested in the chapters that touched on dealing with cancer. A study showed that almost all cancer patients had undergone an exceptionally tramatic event in their lives in the year before they were diagnosed with cancer.
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