"In this delightful autobiography, Smith tells us how he became the dean of world religion experts. Along the way we meet the people who shaped him and shared his journey--a Who's Who of 20th century spiritual America: the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, T.S. Eliot, Thomas Merton and Pete Seeger.... A valuable master class on faith and life."
-- San Francisco Chronicle Book ReviewAs Stephen Hawking is to science; as Peter Drucker is to economics; and as Joseph Campbell is to mythology; so Huston Smith is to religion. Tales of Wonder is the personal story of the author of the classic The World's Religions, the man who taught a nation about the great faiths of the world, and his fascinating encounters with the people who helped shape the 20th century.
What does it mean to chase the divine across a century of seismic change?
- World Religions, Lived: From practicing yoga with Hindu yogis to meditating with Zen masters and whirling with Sufi dervishes, Smith immerses himself in the great faiths to understand them from the inside out.
- 20th Century Spiritual Figures: Sit in on conversations with legends like the Dalai Lama, Aldous Huxley, and Thomas Merton, and witness history-making encounters that shaped modern spirituality.
- A Missionary Childhood: Journey back to a walled town in pre-revolutionary China, where a boy's worldview was forged among ancient traditions long before he would teach them to the West.
- Science and Spirituality: From the halls of MIT to experiments with consciousness, discover Smith's lifelong work to bridge the gap between empirical knowledge and the reality of the sacred.
About the Author :
Huston Smith is internationally known and revered as the premier teacher of world religions. He is the focus of a five-part PBS television series with Bill Moyers and has taught at Washington University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, and the University of California at Berkeley. The recipient of twelve honorary degrees, Smith's fifteen books include his bestselling The World's Religions, Why Religion Matters, and his autobiography, Tales of Wonder.
Review :
Smith has long been our clearest and most radiant explorer of all the world's great religions. Thank heavens for such wisdom, delivered with light and fire! - --Pico Iyer
My admiration for Huston Smith's work is boundless. With each new book I have been astonished, edified, and greatly heartened by his brilliant mind and heart. He is the wisest, sanest religious scholar of them all, and so wonderfully readable. - --Anne Lamott
In his lush new memoir, the religious scholar Smith dances among the whirling dervishes in Iran, camps with the Aborigines in Australia, shares a chuckle with a gaggle of Masai warriors on the darkening Serengeti plains. Each anecdote reveals Smith's sense of marvel at the strange bounty of the world - Washington Post Book World
"It is the pulse of Smith's humanity that breathes life into Tales of Wonder." - CNN.com
"Tales of Wonder brims with fascinating insights and tidbits." - Boston Globe
Poignant and readable, Smith recounts professional adventures--meeting Martin Luther King Jr., befriending Aldous Huxley and the Dalai Lama, dropping acid with Timothy Leary . . . this is what it feels like to have lived a long and interesting life. - Newsweek
In this delightful autobiography, Smith tells us how he became the dean of world religion experts. Along the way we meet the people who shaped him and shared his journey--a Who's Who of 20th century spiritual America: the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, T.S. Eliot, Thomas Merton and Pete Seeger. Intellectual playfulness is definitely the spirit with which this book was written. Right to his final act, Huston Smith is proving to be the consummate professor, giving us a valuable master class on faith and life. - San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
In this delightful autobiography, Smith tells us how he became the dean of world religions. Intellectual playfulness is definitely the spirit with which this book was written. Right to his final act, Smith is proving to be the consummate professor, giving us a valuable master class on faith and life. - San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
In his lush new memoir, the religious scholar Huston Smith rattles off a list of fond remembrances: dancing among the whirling dervishes in Iran, camping with the Aborigines in Australia, sharing a chuckle with a gaggle of Masai warriors on the darkening Serengeti plains. Each anecdote offers up Smith's sense of marvel at the strange bounty of the world - Washington Post Book World
Smith -- Bay Area eminence, grand communicator about religion and its mysteries, friend to Huxley, Merton and the Dalai Lama . . . [has a gaze that] bespeaks mischief, curiosity, bluntness and wonder . . . In an age of generalized fear and "just say no," Smith, who taught for years at Berkeley, a venerated figure there, has said "yes" to life's possibilities. - San Jose Mercury News
Smith . . . [has a gaze that] bespeaks mischief, curiosity, bluntness and wonder . . . In an age of generalized fear and "just say no," Smith, who taught for years at Berkeley, a venerated figure there, has said "yes" to life's possibilities. - San Jose Mercury News
"Smith parts the curtain on his past and says, "Look!" with the enthusiasm of a child--something he has not yet lost at age 90. The result is a joyous romp with a favorite uncle among holy places and mystics--the most interesting of them the author of the book." - Publishers Weekly
"Remarkably brief and humbly written for a man of Smith's fame and accomplishment, Tales deals simply with his life and his encounters with the great and the good (Eleanor Roosevelt, D.T. Suzuki, and Frithjof Schuon, to name a few). Highly recommended." - Library Journal
Smith is America's best-loved religion tutor. - --Jack Miles
One of our foremost scholars and interpreters of the world's religions . . . What he has learned, he has applied to life. - --Bill Moyers
Huston Smith is the world's ambassador to religions everywhere. - --Thomas Moore
