Book Description
“Carolyn See has written a novel alive with wit and love and energy–a book about things falling apart that turns out to be a day at the beach. . . . Pure joy.”–Joan Didion
Accomplished author Carolyn See triumphantly returns to fiction–seven years after her last novel was published–with this provocative, vibrantly written new novel. Set in a security-obsessed world that eerily mirrors our own, There Will Never Be Another You captures the paranoia and propaganda of a volatile time and place in which humanity’s divisions run deep and society sits on edge–and one Southern California family faces profound crises from within and without.
It is a moment in the near future when the global threat of terror has cultivated rage, apathy, and panic across the country. People fear that “anybody could be armed, or have a bomb. Or a disease. Or all three.” For Phil, a dermatologist at the UCLA hospital, it is a time of unease and uncertainty, in stark contrast to the days when he coasted through life on his good looks, a modicum of charm, and only haphazard effort. Now Phil must deal with his mother, Edith, who’s been grieving over the death of her husband for several years and only recently has thought to reconnect with a family that seems to have other priorities. Phil’s energies are already divvied up among his belligerent children, his wayward wife, and his unreliable mistress.
Then Phil’s life takes a dramatic turn: He is recruited for a top-secret team whose task is to act quickly in the event of a biological or chemical attack. The assignment just may provide him with a renewed sense of purpose. Yet dire circumstances force Phil to make profound decisions that will affect not just himself and his loved ones but the entire country. It is a chance for an ordinary man to rise from mediocrity to heroism–and at which failure would prove to be catastrophic.
Foreboding and all too plausible, There Will Never Be Another You is a cautionary novel of family and society, where a naïve past is replaced by a menacing future in which distinguishing between reality and imagination proves to be more challenging than ever.
Customer Reviews:
There Will Never Be Another Now.......2006-09-15
Smart, sophisticated and true-to-life in its treatment of characters' inner voices, See's narrative is a model of brevity and concision. There is a mood of wistfulness evident, for life in general and for these lives in particular. The opening's nostalgic mood reminds of Chris Isherwood's great A Single Man, while the story line of an epidemic that never quite arrives can't help but bring back a few flashes of DeLillo's White Noise.
But the tour-de-force is the linking together of the very sensitive scenes with kids, grandkids, couples both young and not so young, of characters of all ages in fruitless struggle and showing hopeless strength against the slow but inevitable pace of existence. What is past has really passed, See is saying. The foreboding sense of a passing plague, the sense of a passing end to things, these characters' angst embodying their sensitivities as each one must decide what to save of his/her life, what to try and take as each passes through the present.
As a father, I couldn't help but make my hero Edith's son Phil. That choice for me made Carolyn See's There Will Never Be Another You the perfect story of a father's responsibility--a "guy" book even. No matter age or gender, this book is a gift.
"What is it that we did? As a country, I mean?".......2006-08-18
Centering on a group of characters all connected to the UCLA Medical Center, in Westwood, There Will Never Be Another You is a lingering and admonitory tale about people living on the edge, unhappy in their relationships and marriages, lonely for connection, yet also having to live with a post 9/11 mentality, the threat of further terrorist attacks - biological, chemical and even nuclear - never very far away.
Told in alternative voices, the novel begins on 9/11 with a confessional by the sixty-four-year-old Edith, who is lamenting the loss of her second husband Charlie after an extended illness. Edith volunteers at the Medical Center where her only son Phil works as a seasoned dermatologist. Phil is unhappy in his marriage to the stunningly self-absorbed Felicia, and whilst the couple is outwardly united in their care for their two children, Eloise and Vern, petty squabbling and bickering ultimately define their marriage.
Anxious to escape, but unable to figure out how, Phil finds solace in his vintage wine collection and drinking with his best buddy Jack, whilst the world around him steadily falls apart. A deadly virus or bacteria is breaking out in Los Angeles, purported to have started with monkeys, at first it only affected cats, and their carcasses have started appearing all over Phil's Westwood neighborhood.
Later, certain people are affected and in the eventuality of a catastrophic calamitous breakout, Phil being a trained dermatologist, is ordered to participate in bio-terrorism experiments and tests designed to evaluate and improve this city's response to medical emergencies from radical threats.
Meanwhile, Andrea, a sophomore at UCLA meets and falls in love with Danny, an Asian American, who is at the hospital to visit his father. A type of cross-cultural anxiety tempers their bourgeoning relationship, complicated by the fact that she lives at home whilst her father is dying of liver disease. As the world situation spirals out of out of control, with shadowy threats of chemical and biological attacks, author Carolyn See spins an eloquent tale of ordinary people adjusting, coping, and continuing on with the cycle of life because they have no choice in the matter.
The narrative spans almost ten years, from 2007 to 2016 and one might expect silence, the isolation and sadness to shut down all of these people. But during this time, the characters, although faced with the daily threat of annihilation, have gone on with their lives, having children and raising families. Phil realizes that the wayward and truculent Vern is the only person he really loves, and faced with the threat of his own life "being sucked away," he in desperation makes a decision that will irrevocably change his family.
Trying to live a life of normalcy in the face of seemingly inconceivable terrorist threats is the theme of the novel; and Phil and Edith's quest to understand and come to terms with the disquiet in their lives both personal and collective is at the heart of the story. Phil's efforts to free himself from the restraints of his job and his marriage end up turning him into a much better man, and although Edith eventually lets go of Charlie's memory, her old age is tinged with a feeling of regret that she could have done more for her grandson.
Eloquently written, There Will Never Be Another You speaks to the disquiet and uneasiness of our age and it's powerfulness and subtly lies in the fact that terror threats can appear just when you least expect them. World political unrest, the way global catastrophes reverberate throughout our lives, and the subsequent difficulties of daily survival in a post 9/11 world is obviously the canvas upon which the author delineates her characters.
See gives us a restrained and reserved reminder of the unstable world we are currently living in, nevertheless she also intersperses her story with a reflective message of hope and optimism, a type of cautionary testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. Mike Leonard August 06.
Carolyn See Classic.......2006-07-18
A beautiful book and a heartfelt message to us from one of the most generous of writers. I gulped it down and I will go back and read it over again. You know, a lot of younger writers are full of surprises and twists. Their novels just scream, "I am fantastic!" But the novels of mature writers tend to settle down a little bit, they are more subtle, don't shout so much. But then they somehow change you on a submolecular level.
Read everything Carolyn See has ever written, she is amazing.
A riveting and intriguing read.......2006-07-17
When Edith's husband Charlie dies in 2001, she has been deep in caretaker mode. Now, she awakes to the world in a jolt when her son commands her to turn the television on the morning after Charlie has died, September 11th. She sees buildings aflame, and falling.
In 2007, 64-year-old Edith is a volunteer at the hospital waiting room desk at UCLA, where her son, dermatologist Phil Fuchs, works. Edith despises the job, yet she feels an essential truth might be found there.
Phil notices three dead cats in a few hours. It seems ominous, but not nearly as much as the man in the HAZ-MAT suit and plastic mask who picks up the bodies with a machine --- and then drops them onto a pile of dead cats. Phil hears rumors that Animal Control trucks have been parked outside the ER. What is going on? His research scientist friend, Fred, tells him something dire has slipped out from the monkeys in the bio lab to infect the cats.
At home, Phil's wife Felicia suggests they get in the car and flee. Phil dismisses the idea yet obsessively searches for media mention of the problem. Fred calls to tell him he's seen the monkey lab --- once bustling, but now deserted. Fred himself never comes back to work, pleading a family emergency.
Phil's daughter is high-achieving but cruel. His son is not quite right. Felicia, his worthless, pampered wife, pleads for more babies, sinking Phil deeper into the despair that is his life. Phil uses his mistress as a drug in order to forget the rest of his existence, but when she leaves him he feels mostly relief.
In a top-secret meeting, the military requests that Phil join a medical team focused on bioterrorism; they are to respond in the event of chemical or biological attack. Phil reluctantly agrees. Members of the team are issued security suits to be kept under lock and key.
Andrea, a beautiful blonde college student, regularly spends time in the UCLA waiting room while her father undergoes dialysis. On one occasion, she meets Danny, a tough Chinese guy who was in one of her classes. The two leave the hospital to make love in the bushes of a nearby botanical garden. As Andrea and Danny fall in love, they struggle to fit into each other's lives.
As the three sets of ordinary people live their lives, terror squeezes them from all sides. There is sure to be a terrorist attack soon, or a plague. The fear twists their attitudes and blackens their futures. Felicia pressures Phil to join a country club while simultaneously stockpiling canned food and bottled water for the inevitable disaster. Phil witnesses the beginning of catastrophe while fearing for his son's education.
The atmosphere of amorphous foreboding and security obsession is both nightmarish and familiar, knotting the reader's gut with fear at our vulnerability. As in real life, the characters wonder what terror is real and what is imagined. A scenario of disaster is plausible; it might be happening covertly at this very moment. Should we be terrified --- or should we be more frightened at living our lives warped by being terrified? In the midst of despair, Carolyn See envisions hope. She manages to leave us uplifted: No matter how precarious life is, not only can we go on, we also can find joy. Highest recommendation for a riveting and intriguing read.
--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)
There Will Never Be Another You.......2006-07-10
This was an unexpectedly good book. Once I started it I couldn't put it down. I finished it in a couple of hours. It was a very real story with a strange twist. I thought about it a lot after I finished it. I am surprised it isn't on a best seller list. If Oprah was still doing her old book club it would be an Oprah pick for sure.
Average customer rating:
- The Female Figure
- Conceptions III by Luis Royo
- Royo's Conceptions III ---- another great one
- For the Luis Royo fan
- A master's handywork
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Conceptions III
Luis Royo
Manufacturer: Heavy Metal Magazine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Royo, Luis | ( R ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1932413391 |
Customer Reviews:
The Female Figure.......2007-01-10
This collection is predominately finished sketches with a handful of colored pieces. The subject matter is almost entirely the female figure with only a few male subjects who accompany the female focus. Royo's art is as always awe inspiring to look at, and the hard cover makes this book quite impressive. The size of the book is slightly smaller than most of Royo's collections but the content is amazing. I highly recommend this book as well as his Secrets collection.
Conceptions III by Luis Royo.......2006-11-13
It only has 8 color plates but 70 pages of line drawings of his girls of pultritude in various poses of precombat or robotic compositions of strong feminity and beauty.
Royo's Conceptions III ---- another great one.......2006-03-14
Royo fans will love this one. Mostly sketches and funky one-paragraph story/explanations behind the imagery. However, if you ever wanted to see how L.R. comes up with his final illustrations, this book is for you. You will see sketch-to-sketch-to completion on many of his newer paintings. There are a few final colorized paintings in the middle of the book too. All are amaziing. Cant wait for the next one.
Jace Lash
Sag Harbor, NY
For the Luis Royo fan.......2006-02-26
Bare pencil artwork for some of Luis Royo art,if you ar a fan or an artist wannabe you are going to like this book.
A master's handywork.......2005-11-25
I love to see the ideas and beginning stages of paintings and images. Luis Ruyo has not let me down with this book.
Average customer rating:
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Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, Including Many of the Principal Conceptions of Ethics, Logic, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Religion, Mental Pathology, Anthropology, Biology, Neurology, Physiology, Economics, Political & Social Philosophy, etc. (Giving a terminology in English, French, German and Italian, In Three Volumes with Illustrations and Extensive Bibliographies, Volume III, Part II)
Manufacturer: Peter Smith
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000F3ZFHU |
Average customer rating:
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Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, Including Many of the Principal Conceptions of Ethics, Logic, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Religion, Mental Pathology, Anthropology, Biology, Neurology, Physiology, Economics, Political & Social Philosophy, etc. (Giving a Terminology in English, French, German, and Italian, In Three Volumes with Illustrations and Extensive Bibliographies, Volume III, Part I)
Manufacturer: Peter James
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000F3ZLJM |
Book Description
In this explosive new series from New York Times bestselling author Harold Coyle and noted military author Barrett Tillman, a new type of war is being fought by private paramilitary companies at the beck and call of the highest bidder. With the military and intelligence agencies spread thin, the US is constantly calling upon the services of these organizations and Strategic Solutions Inc. is among the best. Al-Qaida has infected men and women with the highly communicable and deadly Marburg virus and sent them to major cities and sensitive locations throughout the world in hopes of creating a deadly, global epidemic. The dedicated men and women of SSI, led by former Rear Admiral Michael Derringer, are the among the best in the world at what they do. But they soon find themselves engaged in a frontline game of ground warfare at home and abroad. And to make matters worse, two Marburg carriers are heading straight for the United States. Using every resource it has, SSI launches an all-out search for the plague carriers. Posing a frightening scenario that could become all too real in the near future, and filled with the details of the military world that have made Coyles books bestsellers, Pandoras Legion hits the front lines of the new war against terrorism in an engrossing, high-stakes novel.
Customer Reviews:
Intelligent writing; realistic story.......2007-07-24
I haven't read Coyle before, but I've read several of Tillman's aviation books. His trademark is meticulous research to get the technical stuff right. There is no nonsense about silencers and safeties on revolvers, no foolishness about medical procedures. If Tillman writes that this is the way a Hind helicopter works, then that's how it works. If he says this is how Marburg disease is spread, you can trust him. As a former drum corps player, I can verify that he even got that little part right! Admirable attention to detail. The male characters seem like action heroes, but in fact, the guys in this business really are action heroes. I, too, wish the female protagonist had been merely good at her job; it was not necessary for her to be a hot babe. (For example, was the Derringer character handsome or ugly? We don't know, or need to, because it doesn't matter to the story.) OTOH, there is no ridiculous Penthouse letters-type sex "to help sell the book." (Tom Clancy's gratuitous sex scenes are so embarrassingly awkward, you have to wonder if he's ever been on a second date!) The plot is plausible and clever. The dialogue (usually) rings realistic. One thing I really appreciate is that luck plays a big part in the plot, as it does in real combat. Sometimes the good guys lose and the bad guys win. That helps sustain the suspense. Right up until the end of the book, you still think there is a possibility that the good guys might lose. (It's a book -- the good guys are going to win, right? But... Better keep reading!) I presume Coyle's job was developing the story line. Whatever role each of the authors played, the collaboration works. This book is a breath of fresh air for the genre -- actual intelligent story-telling, instead of just brainless shoot-em-up drivel. Bravo!
Realistic plot but too many stereotypes.......2007-07-06
Like the other reviewers I found the plot realistic. Using Professional Military Corporations, PMC's, seems to be the new thing.
However I found the characters to be too stereotypic. The lead female character was a world renowned doctor from England (hard to believe no US doctor was qualified), a world class rock climber, a runner, etc. After never having fired a gun she was judged proficient after only 15 minutes. And of course she made Miss America look like a dog. Couldn't we just once have a female who is not perfect or would that not be PC. The rest of the team was made up of the usual jokers, caring medics and ex-Marine gunnys and so on.
My other criticism was predictability. You knew ahead of time when the team was heading into an ambush, which they managed to do quite often. If I were running the place I'd think about firing the team leaders who were out planned throughout the entire book. I'd even think of firing the president of the corporation, e.g., a rent-a-cop to guard a building whose business often included killing people and it never crosses anyone's mind they may want to get even. You often say things to yourself like, "the receptionist is history" and you're right. You want to scream to the female lead as she bends over the wounded bad guy to hear his whispers, "you putz don't get near him". Ditto for the border scene where you know five pages in advance what is going to happen and it makes you just want to tell these people what idiots they really are and what to do. They never listen.
Overall realistic plot, but not a unique one. Characters are just too stereotyped.
A dangerous enemy, Those willing to fight them........2007-05-25
An enemy so evil they are willing to infect their own people with a deadly virus and send them out as weapons against the infidel. How does a nation faced with dwindling resources, a lack of political will and concensous as to the right thing to do fight such an enemy?
In steps the a Professional Military Contractor, Mike Derringer and the staff of Stratigic Solutions, Inc. See how Derringer's company of experienced men and woman, soldiers of fortune all, move in the nether world of the war on terrorism to meet and stop a threat that is beyond politics, or social correctness. Able and willing to go where armies, and government can't, SSI moves to protect a great nation from it's tied hands. Fact or fiction? Read Coyle and Tillman's work, then you decide.
Entertaining, gripping, ending a bit too neat.......2007-04-17
I listened to the unabridged audio edition of this book and I found it a fast-paced thriller with an intriguing suspenseful plot. What if a madman decided to use human carriers to deliver a deadly virus to the states? How would the USA respond?
This was a great book with some fun characters. I particularly liked the interaction with the men in the desert and hostage scene early on. I was on the edge of my seat!
Peeves: I did feel the author could've ratcheted up the suspense a bit by actual having a plague outbreak early on. Also, I wish the contagion was something a bit less gory. The scenes where the disease was described made me gag. I also wondered, wouldn't the terrorist be smarter to release something the carrier was immune to like smallpox? This would widen the impact of the threat and potentially be more devastating.
Overall this was a good novel, look forward to more.
It's Just A Matter Of Time........2007-03-06
It is just a matter of time until a dedicated and dangerous enemy like "Doctor Ali," actually does manage to infect a large population of innocent civilians with a deadly virus.
Coyle and Tillman's scenario is entirely believable, and unlike many examples of so-called "Men's Fiction," I found this one to be readable with believable and multi-dimensional characters. The begining scene reads more like a good women's mystery novel than a techno-thriller.
I do admit I was soon thumbing through the book looking for familiar acronyms like AK-47, 9mm, 7.62mm, G-3, 40 SW, and MP-5. Readers like me, who expect realistic, rather than Hollywood gun handling from these two authors will not be dissapointed.
Now combine that with a microbiologist who can shoot!
The authors description of Para Military Contractors (PMC) will be surprising to many. They are intelligent, successful, and much more mature than their younger counterparts who still serve in uniform. With something like 800 PMC's Killed In Action in Iraq in the last 4 years, Pandora's Legion should be an important novel for anyone interested in Military affairs.
Pandora's Legion appears to be the start of a series of books about PMC's for Coyle and Tillman. I am actually looking forward to the next installment!
Customer Reviews:
Fun read, but not my favorite.......2004-11-16
This book reads like a collection of short stories that happen to have a common universe and thread going through them. The premise of alien invasion of earth from the aliens' perspective is a fun twist, but it makes it more difficult on the writer to make us have much empathy for the main alien characters we follow. Caricatures abound of "us humans," bureaucracy, and global politics, some to better effect than others.
Who won? A rather satisfyingly ambiguous ending there.
Main praises: nifty premise, fun romp through the caricatures
Main complaint: a choppy read cutting between micro-episodes and the macro-Big Picture events
Recommendation: 4 stars in the sci-fi genre. Go read it, but consider buying used. Be sure you read the whole thing, including the "extra story" at the end which is really quite good.
idea good, writing... not so good.......2004-09-14
For the most part, this was an enjoyable read. It's a very interesting concept (earth is invaded by a race of aliens who are less intelligent than us). But the concept is really all that it has going for it.
Anvil's writing style is not bad but it's also not great. He takes the really cool concept, builds some neat ideas on top of it (like the 'Trap' story another reviewer mentioned), and then does a mediocre job of translating the concepts into writing. There are some passages that are even painfully bad--near the end of the book there's a space battle that is about 20 pages of the most tedious writing I've ever read.
If you read a lot of SF, sure, pick this up. You will probably appreciate the good aspects of the book. Just don't expect too much.
Okay fluff.......2003-03-04
This was an enjoyable SF military fluff book. The originality of writing from the point of view of the alien invaders was a lot of fun, and made a sort of game out of deciphering what the aliens were talking about when they encountered Earthmen and their ways.
However, I had a lot of problems with the execution of the plot points. Logical or physical elements of the story were overlooked or simply 'waved away' by not discussing them. Space fleets arrived when they were needed, with no explanation of how long it takes to travel from one system to another; technology was presented as "anything is possible as long as someone thinks up to do it" with no explanation of the physics behind it. It was as though the author didn't want to be bothered, and simply said 'ok, assume this works'.
It isn't necessarily a bad thing -- the characters were primarily required to use their wits, and not their guns. But if you like your science fiction with a lot of realistic (or realistic-seeming) science, this book will probably frustrate or bore you.
A snapshot of *Astounding*/*Analog* in its prime.......2002-11-01
There's a button often seen at science fiction conventions that reads: "Save the Mundanes. We Need Them For Breeding Stock."
That about sums up the character of the sole negative reviewer on this particular work. Christopher Anvil's short fiction written around the premise of an alien race luckless enough to "conquer" Earth (and finally collected here by Eric Flint), typifies the *Humanity Uber Alles* problem-solving science fiction beloved of John W. Campbell, who bought and published Anvil's stuff back in the '50s and '60s. More than any other single person, Campbell was responsible for the transformation of Gernsback's "super scientifiction" into the genre we know today, and neither the whining mamzers of the '60s "New Wave" (especially the soggy *New Worlds* dimwits like Moorcock who've been trying to pass off badly-written fantasy as if it were SF) nor the other proponents of "soft science fiction" have ever been able to appeal to the sort of people who read and enjoy the genuinely speculative fiction fostered by Campbell when he began his editorial career.
At a convention some years ago, I recall a neofan asking Jack Chalker how to write science fiction. Chalker paused for a moment, trying to get a grip on the neo's abysmal depth of ignorance, before replying: "Well, you've got to start reading it in 1952."
And that about sums up the fund of knowledge upon which our preceding reviewer predicates his opinion of this book. I'm willing to bet that if said putz were asked who Gernsback or Campbell were, he would either gape at you in bafflement or start waffling so vigorously that the air would be scented with maple syrup. Ghu knows what he'd make of queries about E.E. "Doc" Smith, or L. Sprague DeCamp, or any one of a round dozen top writers of the '30s, '40s, or '50s.
Though Anvil's *Pandora's Planet* is certainly dated, it offers an insight into the literary history of science fiction that only a damned fool could fail to recognize and value. On top of that, it's an entertaining read, certainly fulfilling Poul Anderson's old saw about "writing for beer money," in that the price of a paperback book is about the same as that of a six-pack of decent suds, and it's the author's obligation to provide the purchaser of his book with at least as much pleasure as might be derived from the aforementioned half-dozen cans of brew.
Anvil's work delivers that much at the very least.
Note: Looking up the writings of the late Poul Anderson is left as an exercise for the reviewer who came upon *Pandora's Planet* and failed to figure out how to get the pop-top open.
Save your money!.......2002-06-16
The only reason why I didn't return it was that I had already read fifty pages and my wife wouldn't let me return a "used" book. Honestly, I haven't read a sillier story in I don't know how long. As one of the reviewers implied, this is veeeeery juvenile fiction that, unlike Heinlein's, is NOT suitable for anyone over age 12 or so. It really belongs in the obscurity of really bad pulf scifi and I have no idea why Eric Flint rescued it when there are so many better scifi authors/stories unknown to today's readers.
IF you allow yourself to be fooled by the other two reviews AND you buy this book, DON'T allow your spouse/significan other to talk you out of getting your money back. And don't say that I didn't warn you!
Amazon.com
If you've ever seen God in a tattoo or had a revelatory experience listening to R.E.M., Virtual Faith is for you. Tom Beaudoin has spent his whole life parked in front of the TV, surfing online, and jamming to the radio--that is when he hasn't been church hopping, getting graduate degrees in theology, or serving in the Israeli army. His book is the most comprehensive and accessible reading on the religious nature of irreverence among members of the so-called "Generation X." While Beaudoin skirts some of the most contentious issues raised by Gen-X pop culture (neither "Marilyn Manson" nor "homosexuality" appears in the index), his book is groundbreaking and important simply because it makes a bold move: he aims two rays of light--God's and Madonna's--straight at each other, and actually takes seriously the wild spectrum that results. --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
Reveals the deep and pervasive search for meaning that haunts Generation X. This book is must reading for anyone who would understand the spirituality of young people at the turn of a new millennium.--Robert A. Ludwig, author of Reconstructing Catholicism for a New Generation
In Virtual Faith, Beaudoin explores fashion, music videos, and cyberspace concluding that his generation has fashioned a theology radically different from, but no less potent or valid than, that of their elders.
Beaudoin's investigation of popular culture uncovers four themes that underpin his generation?s theology. First, all institutions are suspect -- especially organized religion. Second, personal experience is everything, and every form of intense personal experience is potentially spiritual. Third, suffering is also spiritual. Finally, this generation sees ambiguity as a central element of faith.
This book opens a long overdue conversation about where and how we find meaning, and how we all can encourage each other in this central human searching.
Tom Beaudoin earned his Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University School of Divinity in 1996 and is currently working toward a Ph.D. in Religion and Education at Boston College.
Customer Reviews:
Informative -- With Blind Spots.......2006-02-18
This book describes the spiritual profile of "Generation X", which has loosely been defined as "those born from the early 1960s to the late 1970s". That is, it is the generation who are currently in their mid-20s to mid-40s.
Generation Xers have two key characteristics:
Firstly, they make heavy use of symbolism, and this is evident throughout the culture -- in tattoos, pop videos, fashion accessories, and many other ways. When carefully interpreted, this reveals a "constant yearning, both implicit and explicit, for the almost mystical encounter of the human and divine", and should be understood as being part of a genuine spiritual search.
Secondly, they "are experts in superficiality and posing", and are constantly querying others as to their fidelity. It is partly for this reason that they "see right through" the mere "religious institutionalism" of many Churches. Nevertheless, "they still retain a striking fascination with Jesus", and one of their "specific marks" is "reclaiming Jesus against Christian Churches".
The author's answer to Generation X comes as something of a surprise. He suggests that they should "reappropriate tradition, which is one of my primary challenges to Xers themselves". However, bearing in mind the special characteristics of the generation, he further advises "a return to humility in ministry, a willingness to 'go virtual', and a renewal of mystical practices and spiritual disciplines".
This book is well written. However, I feel that there was a certain superficiality about it. With its heavy emphasis on symbolism, it would seem to sanitise the generation of many of the profound spiritual deadlocks that one encounters in ministry. Further, with its emphasis on the genuineness of Generation X's search, it may overlook a good deal of genuine hopelessness and evil.
Seek and Ye Shall Find.......2004-06-30
I was born in 1977 and I don't go to church and can thus be seen as an example of the stereotype that labels Gen Xers as irreligious. True, the generation of the unknown quantity "X" may not be flooding the pews like my Catholic grandmother would want to see, but, as Tim Beaudoin suggests in his book "Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X," we ARE worshipping in our own way.
The cover of the book features the face of Jesus tattooed on somebody's bicep, and although some may perceive this image as part of the joke that seems to be Gen X spirituality, Beaudoin takes it seriously. He is a pioneer in his explorations of "theological interpretations of Gen X pop culture," which means in his book he puts a whole new spin on such things as music videos, fashion, and cyberspace.
The book's academic style makes it a bit tedious at points, but still Beaudoin's message is clear and worth reading: there is a spiritual revolution happening in my generation. If you listen closely and set aside stigmas about piercings and tattoos, you can see that old rituals, symbols, traditions, and icons have fertilized new philosophies and ideas. Gen Xers have internalized, reworked, and attempted-sometimes subconsciously-to apply spirituality to the culture of the everyday life they face. Beaudoin, who holds a master's degree in Theological Studies from the Harvard University School of Divinity, argues that this movement has been neither seen nor reported on. "The media's simplistic caricatures of Generation X have yet to relate something substantial about this generation to its elders, particularly in regard to Gen X's unique religiousness." In the media's defense, this subtle, sometimes twisted sense of spirituality is not easily expressed, but Beaudoin is able to give this movement a voice.
In the beginning of his book, for example, he describes his most recent religious experience, which occurred as he sat in the audience of "Rent." Attending the award-winning play-he saw it four times-had become a ritual for him. Throughout each performance, he and the people around him cried and "raised their hands in the air as if at an evangelical revival," acknowledging that what they were experiencing was both about and beyond them. That same sound that my parents call "trash," he claims is "just as important to my own sense of spirituality as any commitment to an institutional church." Beaudoin, in fact, plays in a rock band and says when he feels the deep rhythm of playing tightly with a drummer and feels the way his body and soul harmonize with the low tones of his base guitar "something happens." Ultimately, for Beaudoin and most Gen Xers, any place can be a church, any song a prayer, and any person, a priest. While Beaudoin acknowledges that his message may not sit well with many people, he explains that "impropriety has been a theme in my life and of the life of Generation X."
Religious mixing and matching is also a theme in Gen Xers' unique spiritual style. For example, someone might believe in the teachings of Jesus, but not in the Catholic Church's attitude toward women, abortion, or gays. It is in ways like this that Beaudoin says, my generation "can recycle and recombine not only the present pop culture and religious landscape but also the rich past of religious tradition," a process of "active preservation, not mindless repetition."
The Gen Xers described in Beaudoins book are acutely aware of the boredom generated by empty rituals, meaningless language, and the growing gap between institutional preaching and practice, which is a sentiment expressed in music videos such as Tori Amos's "Crucify" and R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion." Therefore, one positive result of the Gen X rebellion is that it serves as "a call to humanity within religious institutions." Facing the very real prospect that they may lose their younger worshippers, religious institutions have been forced to make some changes.
Because of the barrage of unfiltered information we Gen Xers experienced growing up in a techno-world of televisions and computers, we have become cynical. The cynicism we have developed is in direct proportion to the mighty idealism of the baby boomers. As Beaudoin points out: "My generation inherited not free love but AIDS, not peace but nuclear anxiety, not cheap communal lifestyles but crushing costs of living, not free teach-ins but colleges priced for aristocracy." Thus, many of us came to the conclusion long ago that unless a serious shift occurs in our world today, the safest and most genuine place to go for spiritual guidance is within ourselves.
Ultimately, the fact that "Viritual Faith" articulates things I have kept to myself for years gives me a sense of hope. Perhaps Gen X's quest for the sacred nature of experience will eventually be honed instead of ridiculed. Informed by "Viritual Faith," the media, who depict Gen Xers as pathetic and confused, or parents, who lament the aimless rebellion of their children's generation, might reconsider their perspectives. Hopefully, they will be surprised-even better, deeply moved-by "The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X." And maybe soon a new Beaudoin will emerge and be able to explain to me what the hell is going on with Generation Y. Until then, however, I'll try to keep an open mind.
good premise, I have only two critiques.......2002-09-10
I read this book for a Youth and Culture class in seminary and it was by far my favorite book of the semester. Beaudoin does a good job in describing a generalized picture of Generation X's conception of Christianity, but there are two places where I feel he misses the mark somewhat.
I feel that Beaudoin could have made better choices in his selection of videos, and this is not about personal preference or taste. Soundgarden's "Outshined" or "Rusty Cage" were both more attuned, in my estimation, to the emotions, struggles, and general attitude of Generation X than "Black Hole Sun", generally speaking. Beaudoin could have also explored why a band like Pearl Jam, which is overwhelmingly non-imagistic, could still continue to have an impact despite Pearl Jam's lack of visual exposure beyond 1992. Another example: replace "Like a Prayer" with Tool's "Sober" or with Nine Inch Nails "Head Like a Hole", and you've got something. And one last musical point: where is hip-hop? Surely the amazing success of rap music in the ninties, especially gangsta rap, says something about Generation X theologically.
My second critique concerns Beaudoin's theological engagement. I simply feel that he could have gone a little deeper. I was also looking for some wrestling with the greats. I took Systematic Theology the semester before I read this book and was looking for Beaudoin to utilize Barth, Tillich, Bultmann, etc. An examination of Tillich's views of Christianity and culture would have been especially rewarding in the context of the book. It simply seemed to me that Beaudoin could have gone a tad deeper theologically.
Is tradition the answere?.......2002-09-01
Virtual Faith is a free flowing theological interpretation of the heart beat of modern culture. The question the author asks is "will you be there for me?" In the modern age, this question is paramount to Gen Xers. Those who grew up in one parent or no parent households. It seems that the alienation the Xer's feel is rooted in their abandonment an isolation by their elders! This is a generation without rites of passage as found in native cultures. Xer's mistrust modern forms of establishment. Tom suggests that Tradition may offer something to Xer's who in fact are quite spiritual. This is a great book! The older generation stands to learn much in its pages! My only criticism of the book is rooted in my own alienation from the tradition he speaks favorabley about. While there is a richness in traditonal forms of Christianity it is rarely exercised in modern forms of practice these days. Patriarchal forns are oppresive and mean spirited to the Souls of women and other minorities.The Pope speaks eloquently and correctly about injustice outside the Catholic Church. About injustice within the Church he is silent and culpably negligent. I give this book my highest recommendation!
A theological dissection of this group from one of its own.......2001-01-23
I'm a little bit older than this age group discussed. Okay, I'll admit it, I'm near the advance guard of the Boomer generation! However, as someone charged with developing educational offerings for my church, I found this to be compelling reading.
The age group of 18-30, no matter what generation in recent years, has typically been absent from our pews. What makes the Gen-Xers so different, Beaudoin says, is that they WANT to be in a spiritual place, and are hungry for it. He cites evidence from music, music videos and other sources of pop culture appealing to the Gen-Xers.
One of his arguments I found especially interesting was that which states that this generation has grown up not knowing war, hard times or any of the events that tend to galvanize previous generations. His theory is that this explains the rise in popularity of self mutilation, otherwise known as body piercing and tattooing, as visible signs of the theme of "suffering servant."
Whether one buys into his theories or not, there is much here to provide food for thought for mainstream churches wanting to reach out to the Gen-Xers. He looks at those aspects of Biblical stories that have appeal to this group; he speaks of styles of worship or study that would most attract them. I don't think anyone who has looked at shelves of bookstores can disagree that there is a great spiritual hunger in our world. Beaudoin's book will certainly enocurage us to think about how that hunger could be met for this demographic group.
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Citation Details
Title: Virtually abandoned: "reflections on 'Gen X' faith and the church.(Church/Youth)(Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X)(Book Review)
Author: Susannah Schmidt
Publication:
Catholic New Times (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 29, 2004
Publisher: Catholic New Times, Inc.
Volume: 28
Issue: 4
Page: 14(1)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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