Spirituality is full of rules. You need to find your own way straight through them.
Will tattoos and convertibles keep you from finding "true" spiritual fulfillment?

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 cosmetic surgery hair mousse is a sign that inner peace is way out of your reach.

With 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 barriers that lie in the way of spiritual fulfillment, showing you that rules were made to be broken, and how it s possible and imperative for you to discover a rewarding spiritual life that fits your own personality, your own path.

In this age of political correctness and watching what we say, award-winning author Dan Wakefield dares to ask the risky (and sometimes hilarious) questions about spirituality: Why is poverty sacred, wealth profane? Can a coffee house be a sacred space? Does yoga make you a Hindu? Can a man pray in public and still be "macho"? Does eating a steak really taint your soul? Who in our lives and our modern day world deserves to be canonized as a saint?

Wakefield s creative exploration of these questions is a quest to free the spiritual world from pretension, anxiety, and the seemingly endless rules that can dictate how you identify (or don t) with religion. Humorous stories from his own spiritually incorrect journey to God punctuate Wakefield s ultimate revelation that spirituality is not about conforming to a set of rules, but rather discovering the practices that uniquely work for you.

Come awake to a more creative life—by realizing clarity of mind, body and spirit. Creativity is basic to the very fiber of our being, and not—as many suspect—solely the privilege of a gifted few. When we silence the voice of creativity that lives within us, we confine our spirit. Award-winning author Dan Wakefield helps us to examine our reasons for not creating—debunking the myths—and shows us the path to a fulfilling, creative life. Drawing on examples from religion, philosophy, and literature, Wakefield teaches us that the key to unleashing our own inner creativity is in clarity of mind, body, and spirit. Releasing the Creative Spirit gives us practical guidance to demystify the creative process and to help each of us achieve this clarity by: Breaking the Myths—Explode the myths that creativity is only for the artistic elite, that creators must suffer, and that science and business can not be creative pursuits. Emptying—Learn ways to recognize and move beyond the tired routines in your life that deaden the senses and soul. Filling Up—Experience new sensations through simple practices that revive natural perceptions and unlock hidden creative resources. Creating—Try hands-on, practical exercises to explore the mystery of creativity in your life from a spiritual perspective. This passionate, personal guide draws on examples from the experiences of many creative people—Elaine Pagels (professor), Tom Wolfe (novelist), John Coltrane (jazz musician), Harold Kushner (rabbi), Danielle Levi-Alvares (yoga teacher), Stephen Hawking (physicist), and Phil Jackson (basketball coach), just to name a few—who each demonstrate one or more of the characteristics of someone who creates from the spirit. Creative People… Develop clarity as the source of creativity Take responsibility for their lives and work Regard age as an opportunity See obstacles as an invitation to create new solutions, techniques, and skills Recognize the body/mind/spirit connection Find surprising new ways to perform routine tasks …and much more This fresh exploration of the creative spirit includes hands-on exercises to help you unlock your creative powers, inviting you to experience the artistic grace and pleasure that can exist in our everyday lives. You may discover, as many others have, that with creativity comes more joy, more laughter, and more accomplishment than you previously thought possible.

Spirituality is full of rules. You need to find your own way straight through them. Some people claim that you cannot truly achieve spiritual fulfilment 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 - cosmetic surgery! hair mousse! - is a sign that inner peace is way out of your reach. With great candour and humour (much of it irreverent!), Dan Wakefield's Spiritually Incorrect shows that there are as many ways to find spiritual fulfilment as there are individual seekers. Part memoir, part essay, part whimsical illustration from his own life, Wakefield's reflections break down the barriers that lie in the way of spiritual fulfilment, showing you that rules were made to be broken, and how it's possible - and imperative - for you to discover a rewarding spiritual life that fits your own personality, your own path. In this age of political correctness and watching what we say, awardwinning author Dan Wakefield dares to ask the risky (and sometimes hilarious) questions about spirituality: * Why is poverty sacred, wealth profane? * Can a coffee house be a sacred space? * Does yoga make you a Hindu? * Can a man pray in public and still be 'macho'? * Does eating a steak really taint your soul? * Who in our lives and our modern day world deserves to be canonised as a saint?

Ten years ago, after decades of atheism and hard living, Dan Wakefield experienced a profound religious reawakening, leading him back to church. Bill Moyers called his resulting memoir, Returning: A Spiritual Journey, "one of the most important memoirs of the spirit I have ever read." In How Do We Know When It's God? A Pilgrim's Rocky Progress, Wakefield continues his quest, describing a religious journey "over the long haul" after the first flush of rediscovery. The result is an extraordinary narrative that reveals the pitfalls and peaks of such a pilgrimage.

Wakefield acknowledges that faith must be sustained in a complex, secular world where it is easy to lose our way. The journey is daunting, and his steps are dogged by false turns and disaster. His is a story filled with humor and human error. He wrestled with career choices, including a catastrophic stint in Hollywood; he tried to quell lurking demons through "est"; he confronted the failure of his third marriage, which he realized hours after the ceremony should never have taken place.

Yet through all these events, Wakefield never lost faith in God, even as he lost faith in his ability to discern God's will in his daily existence. The question posed by the title guides him on this search. Weaving in the Christian teachings that sustained him, as well as "the silent prayer of yoga," Wakefield relates the hard-won lessons that followed his renewal: faith is not static, it is changing and challenging; the proverbial dark night of the soul is not a single episode, but a lifetime of passages; each day holds the promise of renewal.

How Do We Know When It's God? is a refreshing account of the trials one man endured but many have known. Wearing his religion plainly and speaking to the breadth of the human spirit, Wakefield welcomes all seekers in his inspiring and enlightening book.

Dan Wakefield was a successful writer of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays when he awoke to a private life that was disintegrating in alcohol, depression, and isolation. He fled Hollywood for Boston where he reclaimed a faith he had thought he was too sophisticated to embrace. In this moving memoir, Wakefield returns to his religious roots and his early life: his Indiana boyhood, his tumultuous student days, and his growth as a writer.

..". a passionate and tormented novel about the summer of 1954 as it transpired in the lives of two young Korean War veterans returning to their Indianapolis homes.... it is possible that the current publishing season will produce no book more urgently felt." New York Times Book Review, August 9, 1970

"A brilliant book." John Ciardi

"Wonderful, sad and funny; a scathing portrait of middle America through the eyes of a new fictional character who will inevitably be compared to Portnoy and Holden Caulfield." Gay Talese

Noted author Dan Wakefield s most famous novel seethes with pent-up frustration and confusion and nearly every episode bubbles with hilarity. This novel of the 1950s so perfectly captures its time and place that it transcends the specific and becomes universal a true classic of American literature. Now a major motion picture."

Christianity in America has become almost synonymous with right-wing fanaticism, conservative politics and -- courtousy of Mel Gibson -- a brutally sadistic version of the religious experience. Millions of devout Christians, like Dan Wakefield, are appalled by this distortion of their faith, which only three decades ago stood for peace, equality, healing, and compassion for society's outcasts -- the issues that made up the Ministry of Jesus. How did it come to pass that the Jesus of the New Testament, the Jesus who preached the Sermon on the Mount, has in effect been hijacked by right-wingers and the Republican Party? How is it that mainline Christian denominations and leadership, both Catholic and Prostestant, have remained remarkably silent on the issues of the war in Iraq, the civil rights erosion of the Patriot Act, the growth of poverty and the fact of over 40 million people without health insurance? The Hijacking of Jesus tells the whole sorry tale, from the Goldwater campaign of 1964 to George Bush's stunning re-election in 2004.

"The extraordinary C. Wright Mills was an intellectual hero of the New Left, a model of the engaged academic. This volume of his letters and writings provides a fascinating insight into Mills as a person--as a family man and a friend--as well as a thinker. Mills packed so much into his terribly short life, and young people today should find inspiration in his enormous energy, his breadth of interest, and his political boldness."--Howard Zinn, Boston University

"This carefully and lovingly edited volume is bound to revive interest in the work and life of one of the most creative radical intellectuals of the postwar years."--Lewis A. Coser, Boston University

"C. Wright Mills was a passionate public citizen, and therefore, he wrote to be read beyond the academy. He succeeded, making many non-tenured people think, me included. This book further illuminates the life-force within this professor beyond borders."--Nat Hentoff, author of "Living the Bill of Rights"

""C. Wright Mills: Letters and Autobiographical Writings "is an invaluable guide to the thought and sensibilities of one of the greatest sociologists of the twentieth century. This book is a must for sociologists, social science students and historians."--Saul Landau, Hugh O. La Bounty Chair of Applied Interdisciplinary Knowledge, California Polytechnic University

"The personal testimony of a courageous American thinker will afford younger readers a direct look at our past, and perhaps teach them--as Mills did for many of us--that living fully requires thinking largely."--Norman Birnbaum, Georgetown University Law Center

"Mills was among the most intellectually engaging of American social scientists, and he deserves ourcontinuing attention. As these letters and autobiographical essays bring out, he exemplified both a highly personal perspective and a commitment to issues of basic public importance. He saw the connections between biography and intellectual insight, and in this wonderfully edited collection, his writings demonstrate a clarity of perception that adds to our understanding of both his work and his period." --Craig Calhoun, President, Social Science Research Council