The Last Puritan: A Memoir in the Form of a Novel

Book Description

Published in 1935, George Santayana's The Last Puritan was the American philosopher's only novel. It became an instant best-seller, immediately linked in its painful voyage of self discovery to The Education of Henry Adams. It is essentially a novel of ideas, expressed in the birth, life, and early death of Oliver Alden.

The Last Puritan is volume four in a new critical edition of The Works of George Santayana that restores Santayana's original text and provides important new scholarly information. Books in this series - the first complete publication of Santayana's works - include an editorial apparatus with notes to the text (identifying persons, places, and ideas), textual commentary (including a description of the composition and publication history, along with a discussion of editorial methods and decisions), discussions of adopted readings, lists of variants and emendations, and line-end hyphenations.

Irving Singer's new introduction to this edition takes up Santayana's philosophical and artistic concerns, including issues of homosexuality raised by the depiction of the novel's two protagonists, Oliver and Mario, and of the relationship between Oliver and the rogue character Jim Darnley. In his thoughtful analysis Singer finds the term "homosexual novel" too reductionist and imprecise for what Santayana is trying to achieve. Singer brings to light the author's skillful and inventive methods for perceiving and interpreting reality, including ideal forms of friendship, and his success in exploring the pervasive moral problems that people face throughout their existence.

Herman J. Saatkamp, Jr., is Head of the Department of Philosophy and Humanities at Texas A&M University. William G. Holzberger is Professor of English at Bucknell University. Irving Singer is Professor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Customer Reviews:

To be or not to be.......2004-03-18

Our hero has everything - intelligence, beauty, wealth, education, wisdom, steadfastness, imagination, an athlete's grace and strength - but somehow that is not enough and this is the story of his unfolding consciousness and gradual recognition of fatal spiritual strengths and weaknesses. This sounds very dull, but one is wonderfully swept along from an overprotected childhood in New England, to his father's yacht and to English student life at Oxford. Oliver cannot be called a wit, a social lion or a womanizer; but he admires those who are, and two of his close friends are merry, sophisticated men of the world. A thoughtful, well-endowed young man with time on his hands, he seeks the meaning of life from a certain distance, and we explore this theme with him from many fascinating angles. He does suffer. His father considers him weak and indecisive and his mother thinks him heartless and inconsiderate; he fights to gain his independence from them both and succeeds. He despairs and agonizes over his course of action, scrutinizes his motives for hypocrisy, dishonesty and self-delusion. Aesthetic beauty, ethics, the spiritual life and poetry are centrally recurring themes. Love also is explored. Our poor hero who has everything turns out to be the most awkward, ungainly, pathetic wooer imaginable. But Oliver is worth it all, and you emerge heartened and profoundly enriched by having known him and survived the various turns of his exacting life.

Idealist.......2003-11-11

THE LAST PURITAN is a sort of education of Oliver Alden. The atmosphere of the work is that of a Henry James novel. Initially the chief subject is Nathaniel Alden. Unitarianism has replaced prayers at breakfast with wholesome food. The book is cool and funny. Nathaniel Alden is an awful snob and is supernaturally quiet and unengaged. He has vowed to abstain from carriage travel and so must walk. He lives in Boston in the Back Bay.

His younger brother Peter is being sent to camp in the west prior to beginning preparation for Harvard at Exeter. The camp life in Wyoming is to Peter a godsend after living under the dictates of Nathaniel. Genuine cowboys would sometimes ride into the camp. Peter grows up to attend Harvard and to acquire a medical degree. He never practices medicine. His son Oliver is born. His wife is from Great Falls, Connecticut. Oliver manages to escape almost all the ills of childhood. He has a foreign governess, a German woman.

While boating with his father, Oliver is given THE LEAVES OF GRASSS to read. Oliver and his father visit an old kinsman, Caleb Wetherbee. During the winter Caleb resides on Mount Vernon Street on Beacon Hill. He is a cripple and has adopted the Catholic religion and has become highly knowledgeable about European matters. He invites Oliver to to participate in his Sunday evening parties when Oliver attends Harvard. Observers find Caleb's deep religious interests to be a clear case of sublimation.

Olivers's mother is apt to take no notice of genius or style, she is concerned with social propriety. Oliver, invited by his father to spend a year abroad, makes a decision to stay at his day school in Connecticut and live with his mother for the final year before college. He also decides that Williams College is good enough for him. He fears that universities are filled with snobs. Football more than anything else restores Oliver's conventional tone after spending time with his father and his father's companion Jim.

Oliver does spend the summer with his father and learns that his will has been ripped up and that the older man fears he is dying. Oliver promises Jim he will take care of him notwithstanding the fact that some of Jim's conduct shocks him. Oliver learns to punt. He meets his cousin Mario at Eton. Mario's grandmother is Peter Alden's sister. Oliver and Peter are detained at Eton when Peter falls ill. Peter is pleased to see that his son is so wide awake intellectually. Oliver feels a need to justify his natural sympathies theoretically. Peter dies.

Two years later Mario and Oliver see each other in Manhattan and in Cambridge. Both of the cousins are attending Harvard. Oliver, spending three years at Williams, suffers a football injury and decides to rededicate himself to his studies in the wider academic setting of Harvard. Oliver never flinches in his determination to pursue higher things. At Harvard through chance Oliver occupies the room occupied previously by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Santayana himself is a character in this tale, a member of the philosophy department at Harvard. Oliver joins in the fighting of World War I. He is described as an ascetic without faith. When Oliver dies, Mario is the executor of Oliver's will. Mario tells the supposed biographer of Oliver in the epilogue that he idealizes Oliver and makes him too complex.

The book is very satisfying. It raises issues that are still pertinent. It is scarcely dated at all.

Thinking Person's Catcher in the Rye.......2000-06-05

This is the finest coming of age novel in the known and unknown universe. It has everything..philosophy, memoirs of a world gone by, lots of quirkiness, and a great sense of heart. The best thing of all..is to have a copy of the 1936 edition. The yellowed pages of the edition are a perfect touch for a book written about time gone by.GREAT

A beautiful and moving novel of ideas.......1998-10-14

One of the finest books of the 20th century, The Last Puritan was a sensation when published in the 1930's. It tells the triumph and tragedy of Oliver Alden, a youth born into a strict, "Progressive" Unitarian family in late 19th Century Boston. As his life progesses, he struggles to reconcile the harsh idealism in which he was raised with the beautifully chaotic nature of the real world. This conflict gives Santayana the ability to discuss God, love, morality, politics and the permanence of human nature all without ever losing sight of one man's heroic and tragic attempt to find his place in a world not meant for him. The Last Puritan remains the only book that has ever driven me to tears, and the only novel that has ever truly changed my life. If you've ever counted yourself a "lost soul" in the world, this book will hit home like nothing you've ever read.

THE LAST PURITAN: A MEMOIR IN THE FORM OF A NOVEL

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THE LAST PURITAN: A MEMOIR IN THE FORM OF A NOVEL
George Santayana
Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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The Last Puritan, a Memoir in the Form of a Novel
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Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons
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Book Description

The incredible new fantasy epic that began with The Dark Glory War continues in...

Fortress Draconis

In an age of treachery and peril, a young thief may be the prophesied savior ... or the betrayer of the world.

From Michael A. Stackpole, New York Times bestselling author and a master of epic fantasy, comes a stirring chronicle of magic, intrigue, passion, and the most unlikely of heroes...

Once one of the grandest of human cities, Yslin now has a dark heart known as the Dimandowns. And when Will, an orphaned young thief from the Dim, plots to prove himself to his master by stealing a prize from the exiled Elves who share the fetid slums, his theft of the strange artifact snares him in a web of prophecy.

It also brings him together with Kedyn’s Crow, a shadowy human warrior, and Resolute, a Vorquelf determined to redeem his long-lost island home. To them, Will could be the fulfillment of a long-held dream and the last chance the world has to save itself from Chytrine, the northern tyrant who would be empress of the world.

But their belief in Will finds few allies in a world torn by war and magick. Preoccupied with their own internecine struggles, the world’s leaders see Will as a pawn. Only Chytrine seems able to recognize Will’s destiny, and she sends her Dark Lancers to destroy him. For who better to destroy a hero than the ill-fated heroes of the previous generation, survivors of a failed war to exterminate Chytrine, now corrupted to her service?

Yet even as Will is tested, a new generation takes up arms where their predecessors failed. Alexia, princess of a dead nation, leads an army to oppose Chytrine. And the sorcerers of Vilwan have fashioned their own hero, Kerrigan Reese, bestowing upon him powers and abilities no human has held for centuries.

Together these heroes travel to the mysterious Fortress Draconis to stop Chytrine from stealing more fragments of the DragonCrown — a powerful artifact that, once in her control, will guarantee her dominion forever.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic start to this epic trilogy.......2007-03-26

Fortress Draconis by Michael Stackpole is the first book in the Darkcrown War Cycle. This book is an epic tale on many levels. Now, I need to say a couple things before getting to the actual review. This book starts a trilogy titled The Darkcrown War Cycle. However, there was also a prequel written for this epic tale titled The Dark Glory War. You do not need to read this prequel prior to reading the trilogy, however, I read the prequel first and am very glad I did so. It adds so much more depth to this book, having that knowledge and understanding already in place. But, that is a choice for each individual reader. If t were me, I would read the prequel first.

The plot of this novel is rather simple at first look. There is an evil sorceress attempting to crush everyone in her path. Of course, along the way, a group of heroes band together to thwart her plan. This book has many traditional fantasy elements, yet they are woven together like a fine rug. They mess almost flawlessly to create a fantastic tale that I am confident will please even the most hardened fantasy fans. This book has large scale battles, character intrigue, magic, and some rather emotional moments. I realize that some of these things are fantasy genre clichés, yet as I was reading this book I felt like it was being written in a fresh new way. It did not feel like I had read it time and time again. That is what I think the true appeal of this book is. Taking pieces of something that has been done before and writing it in a new and interesting way. That by no means means that this book is a copy of other books. All I mean is that there are pieces of fantasy lore that can be found within these pages.

The characters in this book are most enjoyable to say the least. Will, Alyx, Kerrigan et. al, are all very well written. One of the things I enjoyed most about these characters is that they all have flaws, whether they be doubt and insecurities or flat out making mistakes. It makes the characters that much more real and easier to pull for. Also, the characters dialog, is very well done. When most of the characters are talking you have a distinct impression that each of them has their own speaking style. I enjoy books where the authors quite clearly put some effort into the dialog. Another thing I enjoy about these characters is that Mr. Stackpole doesn't `tell' you anything. He may hint at it and elude to it, but it is up to the reader to decipher and figure out the twists and turns. I dislike it when characters have those "ah ha" moments and reveal plot points, basically smacking the reader upside the head with them. You won't find that here.

I did have two small, minor, disappointments with this book. In the prequel, it seemed as though Mr. Stackpole stayed away from clichéd characters. Yet, in this novel there are actually quite a few. It's not really a bad thing, but I wish it could have been done a little differently. The other thing is there were a few instances where I would have liked a little more description of the scene or what was going on. Yet, there were also other times when I felt certain scenes dragged on and could have been written much shorter.

All in all though. I enjoyed this book. This is certainly a trilogy I will keep reading. The books are long, 700+ pages, but it is well worth it in my opinion. Fans of David Gemmell, G.R.R. Martin, Greg Keyes, R.A. Salvatore etc will find this book right with those bigger, more established names. If you are looking at giving a book a shot, try this one. I enjoyed it very much.

Almost bad.......2006-10-26

Series sucks, waste of time. Knew what was going to happen to the main characters before the end of the first book, which is really a disapointment. Would give it -1 stars if I could.

I expected so much better.......2006-07-31

I had high hopes for this series. I really did. I love Stackpole's stand-alone fantasy novels, and was expecting his first major fantasy series to be great. The entertaining (albeit predictable) prequel novel the Dark Glory War lowered my expectations somewhat, but I still eagerly anticipated Fortress Draconis.

Sadly, Fortress Draconis was a disappointment. If the Dark Glory War was predictable, its sequel is "fantasy by the numbers" all the way. I wouldn't have minded the use of time-worn fantasy staples like the young orphan unaware of his role in a mysterious prophecy, if they were well executed. Instead, Stackpole throws key characters together left and right with minimal attempts at building reasonable situations, and relies on fantasy clichés to carry the story. The characters are relatively two-dimensional and completely predictable, and it seems that much of the attention that should have gone towards character development instead went to describing siege engines and such.

Overall, Fortress Draconis is a 700-page exercise in beating a dead horse from an author who has already proven that he can do much better. I'm not giving up on him, but it's going to take a major dry spell before I bring myself to read the next chapter in the DragonCrown War saga.

If you're a fan of everything David Eddings and Terry Goodkind have written, then this may appeal to you. If you've ever read anything by George R.R. Martin, Guy Gavriel Kay, or even Robert Jordan for that matter, then you probably won't find Fortress Draconis very stimulating.

one generation after the prelude novel [no spoilers].......2004-06-06

"Fortress Draconis" is the first novel in The DragonCrown War Cycle series approximately one generation following "The Dark Glory War" prelude novel. It is a spectacular book filled with creative battles, detailed descriptions, and interesting characters.

One could understand the novel without having read the prelude, but the continuing characters have a history and the small details will be lost on those who don't invest the time. There is mystery on other individual fates from the prelude novel, hopefully to be resolved in the future novels. It is curious to note how countries and people change and/or remain the same over the 25-year difference.

I found the novel better than the predecessor in all things. It has imaginative magic and great encounters. Two youngsters, Kerrigan and Wilburforce, are interesting to follow as they mature with the events unfolding, likewise Alyx with her unusual background. General Androgans and Dranae are intriguing enigmas while Resolute and Kedyn's Crow form an awesome fighting duo with personal limitations.

I highly recommend this series to any fan of the fantasy genre and look forward to reading the future novels.

Thank you.

Good start.......2003-12-11

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would encourage anyone looking for a nice light read to pick it up. I disagree with the assessment that one must read "Dark Glory War" prior to this one. I did not and understood the plot very well. I did pick up Dark Glory War in the bookstore AFTER I read Fortress Draconis and in all honesty, it did not seem as interesting nor did it appear to be as well written. I want to stress that Stackpole is not trying to imitate Tolkein or here with this story, although the usual Tolkein plot devices are there. It is very action oriented and the characters are very predictable and seem to be very typical of the types of characters that pop up in these books. There's the "Orphaned Thief who is really a Subject of Prophecy", a "Mysterious Long Lived, Wise, White Guy with a Beard" who provides guidance a la Gandalf, there's also the "Buxom, Sword-Wielding Babe" who fills out her breast plate, yet can hold her own. Best of all, there's plenty of bad guys, to include those wonderful types that seem to exist by the millions, even though they are extremely easy to kill. Juar like Orcs. The Prime Bad Guy is actually a Bad Girl, but her gender is more or less ignored by the book. She has Nazgul like assistants who do all her duty work, one of whom talks in clever rhyme.

Like I said, not a bad read, lots of fun, one can hope this won't turn out to be another Wheel of Time series and last until we all die of old age. Enjoy.

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Fortress Draconis - Book One Of The Dragoncrown War Cycle
Michael A. Stackpole
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JZZQ3W

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Fortress Draconis: Book One of the Dragoncrown War Cycle
Michael A. Stackpole
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Stackpole, Michael A. | ( S ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Epic | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 141771574X

Book Description

This exciting volume contains four mind-expanding novellas of humanity's struggle for survival in the far future. Peter F. Hamilton's "Watching Trees Grow" In an era of immortality, murder is the ultimate crime, with no statute of limitations-but a relentless detective can pursue his quarry for centuries.

Stephen Baxter's "Reality Dust" A young man vows to investigate war criminals from Earth's alien occupation- even after humanity's past has been erased and reality itself may no longer exist.

Paul McAuley's "Making History" On a ravaged space colony, a historian from the winning side of The Quiet War sets out to chronicle the official story-but will history record the most important battle?

Ian McDonald's "Tendeleo's Story" An alien technolife overruns the African savannah and infects its people-and a preacher's young daughter is at the center of its interstellar transformation.

Customer Reviews:

what SF is really all about!.......2002-04-26

Four novellas that are everything that is great about science fiction. These four authors are absolutely among the greatest voices in the genre today.

In WATCHING TREES GROW Peter Hamilton took history, turned it upside down, shook it a bit & gave us an alternate view of a history quite unlike anything I had ever read before.

Stephen Baxter's REALITY DUST made the reader look at reality in a whole new way.

In MAKING HISTORY, Paul McAuley showed how history is not always written by the victor.

Ian MacDonald's TENDELEO'S STORY took me back to the Chaga in EVOLUTION'S SHORE which always impressed me as being one of the most possibly real First Contact stories ever written.

All four novellas explore the very trait of our species' survival, adaptability, that brings hope & after all that's what science fiction is really about.

Worth the price for Ian Macdonald alone........2001-12-20

I bought this collection for one reason and one reason only: it contained another slice of Ian McDonald's world-turned-upside-down 'Chaga; sequence. As it turned out this was by far the best piece in the book, but more of that later.

I haver never been convinced by Pater Hamilton, much as I want to like a British author who can do cyberpunk and do space opera with the best of the yanks. However his piece in this collection, 'Watching Trees Grow' changed my opinion of him. It is an alternative-history crime novella based on the premise that descendants of the Romans still rule Britian through a set of East India Company-style families who combine economic control with a monopolies over various areas of scientific progress. It is a neat idea, and takes the premise further than many other alternative histories by throwing the story further and further into the future, as an old rivalry becomes an obsession that almost transcends time.

I enjoyed it despite the episodic feel - perhaps a novel would have been more appropriate - but its 'Britishness' seemed slightly musty and old-fashionned, and redolent of dreams of Empire, in stark contrast to McDonald, or more overtly hip authors like Jeff Noon or Justina Robson. Maybe that was the point, and if so it was well made: science fiction is much the poorer if it doesn't teach you something about the society in which you live.

As for Stephen Baxter's 'Reality Dust': well, he does try, and he does keep churning them out, but this is so boring and so mainstream and so traditional. It is all done very competantly, but it is basically the kind of SF I enjoyed when I was a teenager, it isn't challenging in any way.

I was a little disappointed with Paul McAuley's novella, 'Making History', especially as he is one of my favourite writers. This was partly because at the heart of it was a very tedious old argument about the nature of history (great men versus social processes) which tended to intrude on the quite interesting story of the processs of war, defeat, reconciliation and the way history is written. Perhaps this was set up as part of the character of the historian to demonstrate his own flaws, but it didn't really convince. This is certainly not one of his best stories.

As I said at the start, I bought this collection for Ian McDonald's 'Tendeleo's Story'. I was certainly not disappointed by this one. McDonald is one of the few writers in the genre today who can combine real politics and a strongly compassionate and empathetic grasp of human nature. He is also a superb writer, able to portray setting and character in a vivid, dynamic and sensual way.

This novella, as the title suggests is the story of Kenyan girl, Tendeleo, the arrival of a extraterrestrial nanotech lifeform, the Chaga, that begins to transform Africa, and as a result the balance of global power. Initally for Tendeleo, however, this means growing up and simply trying to survive in the ferment that follows, which in her case means geting more and more deeply involved in street gangs smuggling Chaga material out of Africa. Capture and exile is never far away and whe it comes she loses here family in tragic and guilt-inducing circumstances. She winds up in cold, rainy Manchester, England, where she meets the other central character and narrative voice of the story, Sean, a black Irishman, who is also an exile in various ways, and a tentative love affair begins. Of course, inevitably Tendeleo has to return to Africa, where the Chaga has begun to revolutionise everyday life and the place of Africa in the world.

'Tendeleo's Story' is worth the price of this collection alone. It is an almost perfect example of how to write a novella that with none of the structural problems of the others in the book. The narrative is perfectly paced, with a deft handling of both action and emotion and no forced-ness or pretension. It is truly worthwhile and heartbreakingly real story that exist within an utterly fantastic and transforming world, yet a world which says so much about our own. A true gem of a story, from one of the best and most underrated writers around.

A quartet of British SF authors show their stuff.......2001-12-13

This volume is somewhat different than the usual flurry of anthologies that come out, especially during the holiday season, on two counts.

First, it is a British import, and thus the authors represented, while to varying degrees familiar to most of the rest of the world, really are British in tone and outlook.

Second, rather than stories, this volume has the longer novella form for the stories, and thus there is one story apiece. SF seems to be the last bastion of this "not quite short story, not quite novel" length work, and the virtues of the form are admirably displayed here.

The first story is Peter F. Hamilton's WATCHING TREES GROW. Although far better known for his Reality Dysfunction space opera, Hamilton has written detective SF before (The Mindstar Rising novels) and this is another example, with a twist...it is set in an alternate history where Heinleinian long-lived families vie for power and influence, and that is just the backdrop to a murder mystery.

The second story is REALITY DUST by Stephen Baxter. Unlike Hamilton, Baxter's story is set in his trademark universe, the "Xeelee Sequence". This is set after the Qax Domination, where their former collaborator-lackeys seek escape from the freed peoples of Earth in a rather unusual escape route.

MAKING HISTORY, by Paul McAuley is set in a more standard "near future" solar system, in the aftermath of a war...and even if it is true that history is written by the victors, that history can sometimes be rather muddled in the making.

The last story is TENDELEO'S STORY by Ian MacDonald. Like the Baxter, it is set in a trademark world of his, the "Chaga stories", where a strange alien life (nanotech? technolife?) has started to colonize the Earth, beginning with Africa. This story, like his other novels and stories, focuses more on the people affected by the Chaga, much more so than the actual event itself.

All four of these stories are strong, but of course, tastes may vary. The stories do range a far chunk of SF, and it is very possible that while you might like two or three, you may not like all four (personally, I liked the Baxter the best and the McDonald the least). Thus, the 4 star rating. Still, all in all, if you are at all interested in what the best British SF writers are doing, this paperback is perfect for the purpose.

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FOUR FUTURES Four Original Novellas of Science Fiction
Harry Harrison
Manufacturer: Hawthorn Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UKL3ZG

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Four Futures: Four Original Novellas of Science Fiction Suggested by Robert Silverberg with a Foreword by Isaac Asimov.

Manufacturer: Hawthorn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I84WG2

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Futures Four Novellas
Peter/ Baxter, Stephen/McAuley, Paul/McDonald, Ian Hamilton
Manufacturer: NY Warner Aspect 2001.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J5HRI4

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Four Futures: Four original novellas of Science Fiction by R. A. Lafferty, Harry Harrison, Alexei Panshin, Robert Silverberg
Isaac, foreword Asimov
Manufacturer: NY: Hawthorn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ITJ0I6

Book Description

A refreshingly honest spiritual exploration from the New York Times bestselling author of the Anna Pigeon novels.

Actor, adventuress, seeker of truth, and author of the New York Times bestselling Anna Pigeon mystery series, Nevada Barr beckons readers to share her spiritual search for meaning in life.

Hat by hat, step by step, Barr leads readers down her path to enlightenment by sharing personal episodes, some of them funny and revealing, others painfully honest. Each chapter offers a truth or an answer forged through experience and deep reflection, and a nugget of insight certain to encourage thought and discussion among readers, who may, in turn, find their own spiritual language.

Customer Reviews:

So easy to relate to.......2007-07-10

I've read all Nevada Barr's books not so much for their stories/plots but because I love Ms. Barr's, and her protagonist Anna Pigeon's, attitudes and views on life. I first took it out of the library, read it twice, and then decided I wanted my own copy so I could reread it whenever I wanted.

For me, this book is about Ms. Barr's journey to reconcile and integrate spirituality, without becoming a religious fanatic, with her down-to-earth psyche and firm footing in physical reality. This is something I've been working on for most of my life, and I'm astonished how similar my thoughts have been to Ms. Barr's. The thought paths she takes you through in this book, and the clarity of her conclusions, helped me focus on who I am and how to make the best of my time here. I am so glad I found this book.

A new side of Nevada Barr.......2007-02-07

Having read all of Nevada's novels, I didn't expect to be surprised by her spiritual journey, but I was. It was interesting to find out how much of Anna Pidgeon's personality and personal history was based on Nevada's own and how much was very different. Her insights are very real, down to earth and unlike most spiritual guides. I didn't always agree, but she made me examine some assumptions from a new viewpoint.

Beautiful, thoughtful, profound.......2007-01-06

This book touches deeply and lovingly on many of today's spiritual issues. I bought copies of this book for all the people in my life that I care about.

On things that really matter.......2006-01-20

I found Nevada's book to be honest, well written, with a subtle sense of humor so needed in works dealing with religion and enlightenment. One of my favorite lines: "... I would occasionally run across someone who seemed to truly know God, and I realized that religion, like a bad toupee or a face-lift gone sour, is only obvious when it's done badly." This book did not do well commercially because honest well-written books dealing with things that really matter don't sell. But this book is very good, very important. It helped me on my return journey to God.

Mystery Writer Shares Her Spiritual Musings.......2005-06-09

In this collection of short essays, Ms. Barr shares her spiritual experiences which are sometimes witty and sometimes thought-provoking. Some of the stories may even inspire readers to do some soul searching of their own, as they relate to some of the deeper issues Ms. Barr shares. These issues include social conciousness and responsibility to the global community; the importance of keeping commitments to others as well as to oneself; and striving to be a good person, not only for the hope of redemption of one's soul in the hereafter, but for the benefits received during one's lifetime.

Ms. Barr shares some unusual thoughts regarding spirituality that other seekers might also find enlightening. Those readers who are already on a well-defined spiritual path may not agree with some or many of the ideas Ms Barr presents, but reading this book is still a good opportunity to explore the musings of a fellow traveler on the spiritual journey of life.

Seeking Enlightenment... Hat By Hat - Skeptic's Path To Religion

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Seeking Enlightenment... Hat By Hat - Skeptic's Path To Religion
Nevada Barr
Manufacturer: G. P. Putnam's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K0EIKS

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