Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For the stories and the attitude..., July 12, 2000
The only parts of my own wedding I regret are those I didn't personalize enough; I wish this book had been around back when I was doing my planning. Fulghum doesn't provide concrete suggestions, so much as great stories, illustrations of the impact of ritual on our lives (in which he stands firmly with Jossepoh Campbell) and a wonderfully outrageous attitude toward making those rituals fit us, not the other way around. You won't take away exact ideas of what to do for your own ritual, but you will get the inspiration to make your own ritual fit you as perfectly as some of the ones described fit their participants. On another level, the book is also worth reading just for the stories. As other readers have commented, the one about the second wedding is just beautiful.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An inspired, jovial look at life by a man with perspective., March 18, 1998
By A Customer
This book differs from Fulghum's other excellent works in actually having a subject, and a fairly serious one at that. I therefore approached it with apprehension, afraid that this novelty might mar his jovial air and amusing style. I need not have worried: his love of life is as contagious as ever, and his church background (one of his many varied backgrounds!) offers fresh insights into the scenes none of us can really avoid. From the gruesome act of waking up in the morning, through weddings, and funerals, to all the little things in life we never seem to notice, Fulghum continually points out the lighter side of everything, and usually one we wouldn't think of ourselves. This book, like any other Fulghum work I've read, made me smile the whole time I was reading it, and for a good while afterwards, and probably even raised my average amount of smiling per day for ever after. It comes highly recommended.
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Read it for the stories..., January 12, 2000
...and not for any insight into the role of ritual in everyday life. Robert Fulghum is a sort of Winnie the Pooh of expository writers: he is the reader's loyal friend with a heart as big as outdoors, but when it comes to organizing his thoughts and presenting them clearly, he is 'a bear of very little brain.' He tells great anecdotes and excels at bringing a tear to your eye. This book is almost worth buying for one chapter which describes the absolutely perfect nontraditional wedding. If you aren't sniffling audibly by the end of it, you aren't human. And there are several other narratives of equal sentimentality. On the other hand, if you want advice on how to use ritual to add richness to your daily life, or your family's life, you won't get much help here -- just encouragement. For a truly practical book on family ritual with many, many practical suggestions you can apply immediately, see Susan Lieberman's NEW TRADITIONS -- which Fulghum recommends in his bibliography.
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