Some good information here—but whether it was due to my own prickliness or something that was really coming from the author, I couldn't shake a sense of paternalism, or something hovering around disdain in discussions of certain trends or individuals who'd bought into them. Perhaps just an example of how difficult it is to walk that fine line between honest criticism (or even attempted objectivity) and derision.

Also, it's probably irrelevant, but this has got to be one of the worst book covers I've seen in a long time.

Robert Wuthnow, Professor of Sociology at Princeton University, describes this book as an outgrowth of The Restructuring of American Religion, an earlier work in which he focused on the transformation of institutional religion in the United States. Here, he turns to equally profound changes in spirituality, which he understands as "personal" (rather than "public") relationship to the sacred. In brief, Wuthnow argues that American spirituality has shifted since the 1950s from a spirituality of dwelling toward a spirituality of seeking. The book draws on three kinds of primary material: interviews with two hundred people conducted by Wuthnow's research team, existing research studies published over the past several decades, and large scale opinion surveys. Wuthnow notes, however, that the book is broadly interpretive and draws on the whole body of his work to attempt to make sense of changes in U.S. spirituality. A spirituality of dwelling, Wuthnow asserts, emphasizes habitation, while a spirituality of seeking emphasizes negotiation. Where some observers have seen rootlessness, Wuthnow sees a shift to negotiated (rather than permanent) settlements. Negotiated settlements are centered on practices more than places, and this results in a loosening of attachments not only to geographic parishes but also to territorially based denominations. Most of the book is devoted to narrative constructed from the intensive interviews conducted by Wuthnow and his associates. In the final chapter, he draws on the ide of "practice" as articulated by philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre to propose an alternative to both dwelling and seeking oriented spiritualities. The shift to seeking reduces dependence on place and is more suited to both the mobility and the complexity of American society; but Wuthnow sees it as more often characterized by dabbling than by depth. His spirituality of practice is one in which "people engage intentionally in activities that deepen their relationship to the sacred." He presents it as a rebuttal of the idea that spirituality is either communal or trivial. The cases he uses to illustrate spirituality of practice emphasize individual decision and, though not antithetical to institutional forms, relegate religious institutions to supporting roles. Particular institutions are expendable to the extent that they interfere with the practice of spirituality, and individuals decide on a case by case basis whether this interference is present. Wuthnow's spirituality is one in which practice is the point, not a way to get to the point; and it is consistent with the thoroughly Protestant spirituality that has been characteristic of the United States through most of its history. Readers will find Wuthnow's argument cogent and his narrative accessible. The bibliography and notes provide an excellent starting point for those who wish to pursue the matter further.