Man Seeks God

My Flirtations with the Divine

By: Eric Weiner

Narrated by: Eric Weiner

Bestselling author of Geography of Bliss returns with this funny, illuminating chronicle of a globe-spanning spiritual quest to find a faith that fits.

When a health scare puts him in the hospital, Eric Weiner-an agnostic by default-finds himself tangling with an unexpected question, posed to him by a well-meaning nurse. "Have you found your God yet?" The thought of it nags him, and prods him-and ultimately launches him on a far-flung journey to do just that.

Weiner, a longtime "spiritual voyeur" and inveterate traveler, realizes that while he has been privy to a wide range of religious practices, he's never seriously considered these concepts in his own life. Face to face with his own mortality, and spurred on by the question of what spiritual principles to impart to his young daughter, he decides to correct this omission, undertaking a worldwide exploration of religions and hoping to come, if he can, to a personal understanding of the divine.

The journey that results is rich in insight, humor, and heart. Willing to do anything to better understand faith, and to find the god or gods that speak to him, he travels to Nepal, where he meditates with Tibetan lamas and a guy named Wayne. He sojourns to Turkey, where he whirls (not so well, as it turns out) with Sufi dervishes. He heads to China, where he attempts to unblock his chi; to Israel, where he studies Kabbalah, sans Madonna; and to Las Vegas, where he has a close encounter with Raelians (followers of the world's largest UFO-based religion).

At each stop along the way, Weiner tackles our most pressing spiritual questions: Where do we come from? What happens when we die? How should we live our lives? Where do all the missing socks go? With his trademark wit and warmth, he leaves no stone unturned. At a time when more Americans than ever are choosing a new faith, and when spiritual questions loom large in the modern age, Man Seeks God presents a perspective on religion that is sure to delight, inspire, and entertain.

Critic reviews

"Throughout this marvelously entertaining journey, precious and universal truths emerge amid the churning of Weiner's self-conscious intellect and self-deprecating sense of humor. Weiner manages to suspend disbelief long enough to share tales of divine wonders, a possibility in all of us."—Booklist (Starred Review)

"Book of the month... Much of the power of this pilgrimage comes from the characters Weiner encounters-informed, impassioned, and idiosyncratic guides who lead the ever-questioning, ever-doubting author on a magical mystery tour that illuminates our inner and outer paths."—National Geographic Traveler

"I came to Eric Weiner's MAN SEEKS GOD looking for a fight. But in the end, I didn't find the fight I was looking for; instead, I found an affable, candid, deeply thoughtful, sometimes ironic and funny soul, with whom I shared certain similarities.... In the end, despite my proclivity for theological fisticuffs, Mr. Weiner's candor and thoughtfulness were entirely disarming. Whereas some people spend a lifetime searching for their god, Mr. Weiner's whirlwind speed-dating of deities is a thing to behold. I came to admire Mr. Weiner's tenacity and verve, trotting off to places I'll likely never go -- at least not for the same reasons -- pursuing and spending long hours with the kinds of people I'll likely only meet in passing, all in an effort to better understand the world and himself and to 'find his God.'"—Pittsburgh Post Gazette

"Winsome, self-deprecating humor marks every page."
—Publishers Weekly

"Well-researched, informative and engaging, MAN SEEKS GOD is packed with facts and wisdom that, regardless of which God you root for, will leave what a Buddhist friend of Weiner's calls 'Post-it Notes on the brain.'"
—Washington Post

"It is not so much the various religions and religious practices examined that make MAN SEEKS GOD compelling, but the people Weiner encounters and spends time with as he travels around the world in search of something to fill the proverbial 'God shaped hole.'...[an] honest and neurotic, generally entertaining book."—Bookreporter.com

"Writing about spirituality is fraught with ironies: Isn't the divine supposed to be beyond words? How to describe the inner landscape without sounding insane or precious? Eric Weiner's quirky religion-hopping travelogue, MAN SEEKS GOD actually embraces these pitfalls, while poking good-natured fun at the genre.... a refreshing departure from more weighty spiritual tomes."
—San Francisco Chronicle

Boy does Weiner whine!

Have you listened to any of Eric Weiner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Much preferred The Geography of Bliss, where the subject is not himself, but where are the happiest places in the world and what's it like to visit. In this book, he is religion-shopping in, if I may say, an intentionally shallow way. I have some experience with practicing Buddhist meditation, and his observations of his brief attempts to meditate with a teacher are very glib. That he includes a chapter on a new age cult called "Raelians" among discussions of the great religions of the world is inexplicable. His constant complaints about his own neuroticism soon become tedious.

I will say that he is the best reader for his own stuff--his voice has a certain charm and you do become engaged almost in spite of yourself.

My advice, try "Geography of Bliss," which I quite enjoyed, and skip this one.

Man Seeks God Review

What made the experience of listening to Man Seeks God the most enjoyable?

Authors voice and dry humor throughout the book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

There were many characters but the author and his quest was my favorite.

Which scene was your favorite?

The whirling dervish.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No - I wanted to prolong the pleasure.

Any additional comments?

Highly entertaining.