Believers in synchronicity train themselves to recognize moments when a certain turn of phrase, a particular quote, or a brief paragraph can trigger a life-altering insight. Life: A User's Manual is a collection of these kinds of inspirational quotes, poems, and short essays by the world's most respected thinkers and spiritual leaders. Anthologist John Miller (Legends: Women Who Have Changed the World Through the Eyes of Great Women Writers) has organized Life, A User's Manual into five parts: "Search," "Love," "Faith," "Meditation," and "Death." Some excerpts and quotes ring familiar, such as that passage from Isabel Allende's book about the death of her daughter Paula or the excerpt from Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea. Nonetheless, packaged within this clean, tight anthology, each quote and essay sounds fresh and resonates with life-altering potential. --Gail Hudson
From Library Journal
In these short selections, 25 well-known authors, e.g., Diane Ackerman, Martin Luther King, Thich Nhat Hahn, Albert Einstein, and Isabel Allende, search for the meaning of life, love, faith, meditation, and death. Very brief biographical information about each author is included at the end. While excellent passages, such as Harold Kushner's "When All You Ever Wanted Isn't Enough" and Mother Teresa's "Silence," are very moving, the overall collection is random and limited in nature. A hospital, church, or public library might possibly use it as a basis for therapy, inspiration, or discussion, but the lack of explanatory or supportive material makes this a marginal purchase.?Nancy Shires, East Carolina Univ., Greenville, NC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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