Spiritually Incorrect: Finding God in All the Wrong Places [Hardcover]

Dan Wakefield (Author), Marian Delvecchio (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

Told with great humor and self-deprecation, Dan Wakefield--and cartoonist Marian delVecchio--have created a book that both the spiritual, and the not-so-spiritual, will enjoy.

Some people claim that you cannot truly achieve spiritual fulfillment if you’re not a vegetarian. Some say you’ll never find the path if you don’t learn yoga. And some would insist that any display of vanity--tummy tucks!, hair mousse!--is a sign that inner peace is way out of your reach.

Through great candor and humor (much of it irreverent!), Dan Wakefield’s Spiritually Incorrect shows that there are as many ways to find spiritual fulfillment as there are individual seekers. Part memoir, part essay, part whimsical illustration from his own life, Wakefield’s reflections break down the hard and fast rules, showing you how to discover the practices that uniquely work for you.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although Wakefield culls these essays from, among other sources, his Beliefnet column "Spiritually Incorrect," the titular concept remains rather vague throughout the book. In his introduction, he gives several examples of being spiritually incorrect, such as getting a facelift, owning a convertible and having a tattoo. His explanation of who finds these practices spiritually incorrect is a bit labored and confused; at times, he seems to be rebelling against "my fellow Christians who are of the fundamentalist persuasion" and at other times he seems more interested in scandalizing yoga-practicing vegetarians. Most chapters are very brief; they introduce an idea (some of which, such as the spiritual correctness of taking Prozac, are no longer very controversial), include a few observations and then simply end. For example, in a chapter that rather curiously employs a question-and-answer format (it's not clear if this is from an advice column he has written), Wakefield discusses whether or not it is "spiritually incorrect" to eat steak. He begins by decrying the rigidity and judgment of some vegetarians and then meanders into a comparison of the relative merits of low and high carbohydrate diets, and then the chapter ends. Several other chapters in the book suffer from a similar lack of focus and substance. The final third is a gem, however, with several profiles of spiritually incorrect "saints" such as Dorothy Day, Henry Nouwen and Reynolds Price. These are people Wakefield knows or has known personally, and his insight into their lives is the strongest element of the book.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Readers of Wakefield's Internet column "Spiritually Incorrect" and his earlier books know his breezy, punchy style and entertaining way with a story. He recalls when his life fell apart, how he stopped drinking, and his search for a church, thinking any Protestant one would do. Since then he has written about his spiritual journey, given workshops in spiritual autobiography throughout America, and become aware of what it means to be on the wrong side of the religion police, to be spiritually incorrect. He reminds us, however, that Jesus was spiritually incorrect, too, for he hung out with outcasts. And then he discusses some spiritually incorrect topics, including the coffeehouse as sacred space; the fast-growing Pentecostal movement; "the politics of meaning" espoused by the likes of Michael Lerner, editor of the liberal Jewish magazine Tikkun; and taking Prozac and similar mood-affecting drugs. He also profiles Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, C. Wright Mills, Werner Erhard, Reynolds Price, and Henri Nouwen--all of whom, like Wakefield, arrived at spirituality idiosyncratically. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Skylight Paths Pub (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893361888
• ISBN-13: 978-1893361881
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,596,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brief, Thought-Provoking Words of Toleration, January 5, 2004

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This review is from: Spiritually Incorrect: Finding God in All the Wrong Places (Hardcover)

Unlike other Dan Wakefield books, Spiritually Incorrect is a series of brief essays that have mostly appeared elsewhere (such as in his on-line column "Spiritually Incorrect" and in the New York Times Magazine, The Nation, Common Boundary, The Sun, Christian Century and Yoga Journal). As you might expect, the results are a little more quirky and unconnected at first blush. After thinking about what Mr. Wakefield had to say, I found myself seeing a deeper connection built around the themes of openness and tolerance that moved me.

Having been a long-time fan of his writing, I had the good fortune of taking one of his creativity courses. While there, he told us about his classes and work in spiritual autobiography. The thought was a new one to me then, and I've continued to want to learn more about it. Since then, my spiritual development has greatly benefited from this idea, and from new lessons I learned about spirituality from my fellow classmates. I was most recently reminded of this when I spoke at my father's funeral, and experienced the event as a spiritual transition rather than as a loss of my beloved father. I was deeply grateful for the insights that led to my reaction.

The book begins by explaining that there seems to be a parallel to political correctness in spiritual correctness -- you have to favor being poor, vegetarianism and professing only certain faiths. Mr. Wakefield, as the good writer he is, chooses to favor the dictionary definition of spirit in the book: "The animating or vital principle in humans (and animals); that which gives life to the physical organism, in contrast to its purely material elements; the breath of life."

Spiritually Incorrect begins with a brief "Guide to Spiritual Incorrectness" that explains how Mr. Wakefield became aware of the phenomenon, and his spiritual journey. He was raised as an Eagle Scout Christian believer in Indiana, but became an intellectual atheist from his educational experiences. More recently, he has returned to Christian beliefs in a more general way. The most interesting part of this for me was how sharing his spiritual journey has helped others to begin theirs.

The next section looks at examples of spiritual intolerance (being skeptical of hearing voices, wealth, comfort, women as ministers, relationships with pets, homosexuality, resisting other faiths than one's own, praying aloud, speaking on tongues and New Age practices) while praising other spiritual practices (such as the traditional coffeehouse hangout and considering nature).

The third section surprised me. Mr. Wakefield looks at our spiritual relationship to our bodies . . . a relationship that he missed during much of his life. He considers that there are many roads to recovery from alcoholism, explains that he found antidepressants helpful, questions rigid vegetarianism, and supports finding greater spirituality through spa and Yogic practices.

Mr. Wakefield's best work comes in a series of mini biographies of those who have led spiritually significant lives. From this part of the book, I came away with a richer sense of what our spiritual potentials are. In many cases, he updates a one-time public figure in ways that added a lot to my understanding of their particular life and spiritual experiences. The biographic subjects include Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, C. Wright Mills, Werner Erhard, Ollah Toph, Reynolds Price, Ram Dass, Anne Sexton, Leonard Kriegel (a believing nonbeliever), Norm Eddy and Henri Nouwen. In each case, Mr. Wakefield is able to relate his own experiences with the person which enriches the perspective for us all.

I always test a book like this by how it affects my mood and behavior. I found much more pleasure in prayer after finishing the book. I hope you will, too.