INSPIRING & THOUGHT-PROVOKING! Shirley Maclaine's willingness to risk ridicule with her candor is to be commended. She powerfully states what many people fear to speak of. This book inspired me and in fact, if the title had not been taken, may very well have been the title for "Blessings In The Mire." Because she is such a celebrity figure, Maclaine risked more than an average joe. By expressing her beliefs, she opened herself up to the skeptics, the critics, the hecklers. If for nothing else, Ms. Maclaine should be commended for her candor and bavery, but with this statement aside, the book stands on its own for being extremely thought provoking, for creating dialog between believers and skeptics, and for being an extremely well written volume. KUDOS to to Shirley Maclaine for her skill and talent as a proficient author. She is NOT "just another pretty face."
Naïvete Or Illumination? ~ The Spirituality Of The "New Age" Shirley supplies her fans with the usual information one expects to find in a Hollywood tell-it-all book and so much more. Now you'll find out not only who's slept with whom but who they slept with in previous incarnations!
Yes is was Shirley MacLaine, well-known Hollywood actress, dancer and last surviving member of the infamous "Rat-Pack" who almost single-handedly brought "New Age Spirituality" into the American mainstream with her '83 autobiographical best-seller `Out on a Limb'. This easy to read and highly entertaining 380 page book is a veritable everything you ever wanted to know about the New Age compendium that brought the concept of channeling and reincarnation into mainstream consciousness in unprecedented fashion.
Shirley's revolutionary book came along when the time was ripe for an alternative approach to the divine. A large portion of the population had given up on the Sunday go to church ritual to hear about how the experience of God had touched the lives of people in the remote past. They hungered for something more recent, more accessible and most of all more experiential. Ms. MacLaine provided just that, a contemporary spiritual quest encompassing a myriad of belief systems and personal encounters with living, illumined teachers dispensing wisdom. All this blended with numerous, always eerie and invigorating synchronistic occurrences (meaningful coincidence) that so enthrall us made `Out on a Limb' a sure hit with the public-at-large.
Unthinkable as it may seem, her simplistic, naïve understanding of spirituality has now become the norm for many, especially within the Hollywood elite and has caused a paradigm shift in modern day society that is still evolving. I'm not sure whether the positive brought about by this new mindset outweighs the negative backwash of spurious information and shallow thinking brought about by this book, but it is change nonetheless.
Whether you agree with Shirley or not is not the point. She stands alone as an agent of change, new age guru, spiritual guide, cultural phenomenon and a sociological event that cannot be denied no matter how many people sit back and laugh at her beliefs. Many years from now long after you and I are gone this book will still be read and recognized as an important milestone in the history of the `New Age' movement. Ah..., the power of Hollywood stardom.
One of my favorite books and movies EVER I thought this book was amazing when it first came out, when I was literally a teenager and first starting to think about life and what it all meant. I believe I have re-read this book over the years at least 6 times, and I always get something from it. For some reason this book is like an old friend I go back to again and again. I also loved the movie, love the ideas it presents, the way you watch Shirley struggle - as we all do (I am now 42, and can really relate to where she was at that time) - with relationships, friendships, family, and the search for spirituality and meaning in this life. I thought her love affair with Gerry was touching, how there was such a connection that she couldn't understand for a long time (though I am a little judgmental when it comes to affairs with married men, so I wasn't so comfortable about that part). We've all been drawn toward someone or repelled from someone so strongly and had trouble shaking the feeling, so it was interesting to see that it all may be about far more than what is happening on the surface. The movie was sweet, and sad, and funny, and touching, and really humanized celebrity in a way that brought home that we're all just people struggling to find our way. I've read nearly all of her books, with The Camino being the last. For some reason that was just too "out there" for me. A really good follow-up was It's All in the Playing, documenting Shirley's experience while filming the movie. It also discussed John Heard, "David" in the movie, who is such a tremendous actor. He wasn't much of a believer in the subject matter when approached to do the movie, and it was very interesting to read the behind-the-scenes of it all. So I would recommend this book whole-heartedly. Interesting and thought-provoking, both.
An Egotist's Mid-Life Crisis, Part One? Here is this book in a nutshell: Shirley Maclaine, one-time Hollywood A-lister, finds herself in her early forties (during the mid-1970's) and as many people do upon reaching this hypothetical mid-point in life, Shirley Maclaine feels an inner motivation to seek out answers to humanity's heftiest questions. Does life have meaning? What happens when we die? Has she been on the right path? Is there a God? Is there anything beyond or outside the visible world? While all these are normal, natural, respectable inquiries that anyone with any substance surely makes at some point, the unfortunate fact is Maclaine asked these questions in the time and place she did---California in the '70's---and like the proverbial P.T. Barnum maxim about a you-know-what and his money, this financially-secure starlet soon fell into the clutches of a number of cons and frauds and fake "channelers" who filled her head with non-sense, even as they emptied her bank account. Toss into this retro-New Age tale a trek into the wilds of Peru, some asides about UFO's, an affair with a married British MP (later revealed to be a disguise for Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palma) a friendship with what was surely an emotionally-scarred young man whose mental issues Maclaine confused with "depth" and you got it all. Maclaine is perhaps to be commended for her courage in presenting her experiences and newfound convictions before the public, and for clinging to her beliefs while being made fun of by those who do not hail the legitimacy of spirit channelers who charge mega-bucks for their services, but what it all comes down to is this: she asked good questions and got (expensive) bad answers in return.
Shirley Charlemaign Adam and Eve is at it again. Great movie that summarizes all that we know to be real and doesn't pull any punches or spon the insanity of reality.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
