Staying sane in a crazy world [Hardcover]

Sherwin T Wine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1995

Staying Sane in a Crazy World is a fresh and somewhat outrageous new approach to the search for meaning in life. In an age when it is fashionable to give people answers that they want to hear but cannot use, Sherwin Wine provides less fashionable-but more effective-answers to the fundamental issues of the human condition. It is a guide to rational living.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Says Lawrence Kasdan, Writer and Film Director "Sherwin Wine's wisdom is both timeless and modern, his writing accessible and comforting, I have treasured his perspective for years and am grateful to have this book to carry me during these confusing times." and Author and Talk Show Host, Dr. Sonya Friedman says " Brilliant! Whatever your beliefs, Sherwin Wine challenges each and every one of us to question and answer the haunting refrain of our view of ourselves and the world." -- Lawrence Kasdan

About the Author

Sherwin T. Wine is the founder of Humanistic Judaism, a fifth alternative to Jewish life. He has been the rabbi of the Birmingham Temple for the past thirty five years. He is also the founder of the Center for New Thinking, a forum for the presentation of new ideas in the arts, sciences and philosophy. As chief lecturer of the Center, he directs much of his attention to the issues of ethics and self-esteem. Other books written by Sherwin Wine include Judaism Beyond God and Celebration.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: Center for New Thinking (1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964801604
• ISBN-13: 978-0964801608
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,099,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rabbi Sherwin Wine was the founder of Humanistic Judaism, a fifth alternative in Jewish life. Founding rabbi of the Birmingham Temple in Farmington Hills, Michigan (the first congregation Humanistic Judaism), he was also instrumental in the organization of the Society for Humanistic Judaism in 1969, the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism in 1985, and the International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews in 1986. Sherwin Wine was a modern-day Renaissance man whose interests ranged far and wide, leading him to found the Center for New Thinking in 1977, where he was primary lecturer for 30 years.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important self-help books of the 90s., April 10, 1999

By 

Edd Doerr [e-mail] (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Staying sane in a crazy world (Hardcover)

Sherwin Wine's Staying Sane in a Crazy World may well be the best self-help and personal development book published in a generation. Reader-friendly and clear, it is a practical guide for living in our increasingly complex, confusing, dehumanizing times. Like Kahlil Gibran, Wine urges, "Let passion fill your sails but let reason be your rudder." Reason, Wine insists, is the best tool we have for successfully meeting life's challenges. He critically examines the shortcomings of traditional religions, such as the notion that the universe gives meaning to human existence; on the contrary, he writes, "it is human desire that gives meaning to the universe."

Wine counsels realism and the discarding of illusions as necessary for staying sane, dignity and courage as essential to human happiness, and the importance of ethics derived from human experience in a universe indifferent to human values and concerns.

Realistic living, Wine concludes, is the courage to acknowledge truth even when painful, the courage to strive for happiness even when it is unlikely, the courage to face uncertainty, the courage to improve the world even in the face of failure, the courage to stay sane in a crazy world.