Just a nice, comfortable amble mulling over aspects of life and relationships. This is not pushy or evangelical - just, as I say, 'comfortable'. Almost English in its style. Recommended if you want to learn a bit about British countryside and standing stones and chat about life at the same time.

I had not read any earlier books by Scott Peck but found this one at a book sale and began it and was struck by his total openness, his fascinating with Stone Henges and menhirs and by the way he wrote about death and about retirement. He does get preachy at times but over all an fine book.

What struck me most about this book was its honesty: the author is completely frank about his infidelity, and the fact that, even as a therapist, he does not always know what to think or do at times. If nothing else, read it for the candidness.

This is actually the only book I've ever read by Peck, and even though I'm aware that it's not his best work, I learned more than enough from him. I learned a lot about the nonprofit organization that he founded on community building, and that feels like one of the most important messages to get from this book.

I also appreciated learning more about the standing stones in the U.K. It definitely made me want to hop on a plane and see all of this myself.

I wouldn't rate it five stars however. The writing was solid, but not great.

gland, Wales , Scotland , and Ireland in Search of stones and stone formations. His key point is everything in life is overdetermined, or has more than one neat explanation. This is an older Doctor Peck musing on his failings and infidelities. The author has a more mature tone than in his "Road Less Travelled " books--He encourages to embrace the mysteries of Science and Religion.
In this book he seems less smug, and more grounded---like Hey, I do not know everything and am not the expert on everything

"M. Scott Peck, whose book The Road Less Traveled has become both a part of popular culture and a spiritual and inspirational guidebook for a generation, now gives us his most personal book; one that tells more about himself than he ever has before, while at the same time helps readers see truths about themselves, their own lives, and the greater community around them.

"On the surface, this book is the story of a three-week journey that Dr. Peck took with his wife, Lily, looking for the ancient megalithic stones that became an obsession for them. But the search for stones is a search for meaning and mystery, and ultimately an unveiling of the pilgrimage of life itself.

"Each day of the journey Dr. Peck discusses a related realm of human experience -- parenthood, holiness, romance, art, to name a few -- and we travel with him on an adventure of the spirit, striving to understand the journey of life in all of its complexities and secrets.

"Illustrated with exquisite drawings by Dr. Peck's son, Christopher. In Search of Stones is a beautiful book of spirituality and quest, faith and mystery, and the most intimate book to come from one of our most distinguished thinkers."
~~back cover

This is a stunning book: it delves into subjects that most of us don't talk about, or even think about: addiction, changing, aging, parenthood, death, gratitude, despair. Perhaps it's me that needed to hear about these subjects, and the other in the book, but it felt compelling, spiritual. I read one chapter a day -- I could have sat down and devoured the whole book at on go but I wanted to savor each one, to think about what was said, to hold that template up against my own life. This is a book to be cherished, to be kept, to be taken out and a chapter reread here and there, a book to contemplate in order to facilitate your life.

A bit rambling and disjointed. Interesting, overall.

This book I took with me to read while exploring parts of England "in search of standing stones" as well, to a certain extent...ie visiting Stonehenge, and other places. Of course the traveling in this book is inner as well as outer and is also about ageing. I was particularly struck by his comments about having parts of oneself stripped away layer by layer, piece by piece,taking away one's illusions, vanities,dignity and self sufficiency (another illusion)....Nothing like going thru a life threatening illness and experiencing other "take aways" to make one become more poignantly aware of this. However, he points out this is inevitable and has its lessons. It made me think which is the highest praise I can give for a book.

For those who love to learn, avid absorbers of knowledge, philosophy and history... this book is for you and me!

Author of the 'Road less travelled' sets of on a tour of the UK with his wife and they become entranced by pre-historic stone circles and standing stones. The journey promotes a series of essays on subjects like reason, pilgrimage, peace, gratitude etc. I read this book in the late nineties when my partner died and quest for stones helped begin to make sense of my loss. More recently, I visited a stone circle on the Isle of Man - not featured in the book - and the beauty and power of the experience reminded me of Peck's book and dig it out. Re-reading is always like time travelling and I found totally different sections spoke to me today. In particular, I liked his story about mild narcissism (after his wife can't find a unlocked toilet) and how much we expect our partner to be like us (only slightly misguided). Therefore, the great temptation to tell his wife, for example, 'you can pee behind a bush, don't worry I'll keep an eye open for you' (and getting angry when she doesn't listen) - because he has no problem letting go in the open air, rather than understanding that she has different needs and treating her with kindness. I know from my clients how easy it is to think our partner is misguided and if only they'd listen to us, we could point out the error of their ways! So keep on and on and on. I'd never heard it called mild narcissism before - and even though I hate labels - it struck home. So why only three stars? Perhaps it was because I was looking for more about stones and less philosophy. Perhaps because he tends to ramble. Perhaps I'm in a better place but it doesn't speak to me in the same way as before.

I listened to this while on a long trip and was able to give it a lot of attention. Scott Peck and his wife take a trip to England to find standing stones. Some are prominent with signs and careful tending, but others are out in pastures involving climbing fences and long treks. Along the way, Scott goes over his spiritual and psychological journey and relates it to his trip.

The book isn't as thought provoking as most of his other books, but I still found that I had to stop the tape from time to time and ponder over things he said and relate them to my life. It's a fascinating book and I enjoyed it very much.

A little bit of travel thru the British Isles looking for megalithic stones and a whole lot of reflections on life makes for an intriguing guidebook.