Wednesday, January 18, 2012
8pm (Reception 6:30-7:30pm)
Eric Weiner in conversation with Lisa Napoli
discussing his new book,
MAN SEEKS GOD: My Flirtations With the Divine
Track 16 at Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1
Santa Monica, CA
About the Author
ERIC WEINER is author of the New York Times bestseller The Geography of Bliss, which has been translated into eighteen languages. A former correspondent for NPR and the New York Times, Weiner has reported from more than three dozen countries. His work has appeared in the New Republic,Slate, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Foreign Policy, The New York Times Magazine, and the anthology Best American Travel Writing. For more information, be sure to visit: www.ericweinerbooks.com
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.
LISA NAPOLI is a journalist and author. She was as reporter and back-up host for public radio show Marketplace. She covered the Internet revolution and the cultural impact of technology as a columnist and staff reporter for the New York Times’ CyberTimes, and as a correspondent for MSNBC. In her 25 year career in media, she has also worked for CNN. She is author of RADIO SHANGRI-LA: What I Learned in Bhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth. Presently, she is the local host of NPR’s All Things Considered on KCRW. Visit her website at: www.lisanapoli.com