Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today [Paperback]

Don Lattin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2004

Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, ... and Religion

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Next month, Yale will publish Mark Oppenheimer's Knocking on Heaven's Door, a study of how the 1960s changed the face of mainstream American religion. Similarly, in Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today, religion journalist Don Lattin traces the religious legacy of the turbulent decade. Unlike Oppenheimer, however, he focuses his attention most toward alternative movements: the Esalen Institute, the Hare Krishnas, the Unification Church and the movement founded by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. In one particularly engaging chapter, Lattin interviews the "dharma kids": second-generation American Buddhists like Dharma Punx author Noah Levine.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Lattin ... captures the double vision of religion, always looking forward and backward at the same time.” (Washington Post )

“Much terrific reporting, captivating storytelling, and enjoyable reading... a worthwhile, thought-provoking work.” (Yoga Journal )

“A wise and witty examination.” (Detroit Free Press )

“A very readable, thoughtful book about the generation that came of age during the 60s.” (Orville Schell, Dean, Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley )

“[Lattin’s] book seeks to stand up for the ‘60s, without giving it a free pass.” (Nashville Tennessean )

“Lattin’s book is a fascinating, provocative and ultimately upbeat journey.” (San Francisco Chronicle )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; First Edition, First Printing edition (August 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060730633
• ISBN-13: 978-0060730635
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,032,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Don Lattin is one of the nation's leading journalists covering alternative and mainstream religious movements and figures in America. His work has appeared in dozens of U.S. magazines and newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle, where he covered the religion beat for nearly two decades. Lattin has also worked as a consultant and commentator for Dateline, Primetime, Good Morning America, Nightline, Anderson Cooper 360, and PBS's Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. He is the author of Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge, and Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today, and is the coauthor of Shopping for Faith: American Religion in the New Millennium.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Insightful Trip into the Spirit of the 60s, October 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today (Hardcover)

I really recommend this book. It's like good tea; after it steeps awhile it permeates your thoughts. I felt transformed into worlds I never entered, and remembered some I touched closely. Some of these worlds are pretty far from the mundane world I live in, and it's exciting to read about the questioning of our common day-to-day realities. It helps that the writer is a reporter, because his writing sizzles.

The historical aspect of it, along with some courageous personal reactions, make it read like someone telling a good, funny, and bizarre story. It's hard to believe some of this stuff really happened, but even if I was sometimes horrified and sometimes profoundly moved, it's nice to know that life doesn't always go according to plan. As one example, the Chapter on the Moonies tells a very strange, and in some ways tragic, tale of Reverend Moon and his establishing a base in the U.S. At the same time, the author talks about the middle ground where people as obviously crazy as Moon aren't always quite skewed as it first appears.

I didn't finish the book feeling that he's pushed his own value system, but rather that he's given me the background and information I need to really understand those times and their legacy better. On top of that, it's a great read.

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bliss and Religion, November 15, 2003

By 

Robert Cromey "voice" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today (Hardcover)

>Book Review
>
>Following Our Bliss
>By Don Lattin
>Harper, San Francisco
>276 pages $24.95
>
>The spiritual ideas of the sixties shape our lives today is the theme of Don
>Lattin's new book. He is the religion writer for the San Francisco Chronicle
>who has covered the mainstream and alternative movements and figures in
>America.
>
>Lattin has covered many dozens of church conventions of all denominations,
>interviewed countless Bishops, Presbyters, Rabbis, clergy and lay leaders
>for 25 years. He has attended conferences, groups and gatherings of new age
>believers including Eastern religions, feminist spirituality, Tai Chi, Yoga,
>Moonies, Hare Krishnas, Buddhist punks and many more.
>
>He traces how these movements have entered the main stream of American life
>and how they have affected our contemporary religious scene. Meditation, new
>music, body work, Gestalt therapy, encounter groups, changes in sexual
>behavior, drugs and spirituality are just a few areas that have emerged from
>the sixties and are now part of the way we look at life and religion in the
>21st century.
>
>The book is well researched and documented yet reads easily and with a sense
>of seriousness and a touch of tongue in cheek here and there. The stories of
>what happened in the lives of youngsters growing up in that hot bed of sex,
>drugs and rock and roll spirituality has both harmed and helped them.
>
>The book takes seriously what many people today laugh off as "the sixties."
>Those years profound affect on church and society is described accurately,
>with intelligence and sensitivity. Many who want to understand today's
>religious scene will profit from reading "Following Our Bliss."
>
>Robert Warren Cromey
>is a retired priest of the
>Episcopal Church residing
>in San Francisco, CA

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Following Our Bliss: Purchase, February 14, 2010

By 

Elizabeth "elizabeth" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today (Paperback)

I purchased this book for school and it came in perfect condition in an acceptable amount of time, I was very happy with the order.