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Devotion: A Memoir |  | Author: Dani Shapiro
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
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Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 41309
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6.2 x 1
ISBN: 0061628344
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.5403
EAN: 9780061628344
ASIN: 0061628344
Publication Date: February 1, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In her midforties and settled into the responsibilities and routines of adulthood, Dani Shapiro found herself with more questions than answers. Was this all life was—a hodgepodge of errands, dinner dates, e-mails, meetings, to-do lists? What did it all mean? Having grown up in a deeply religious and traditional family, Shapiro had no personal sense of faith, despite repeated attempts to create a connection to something greater. Feeling as if she was plunging headlong into what Carl Jung termed "the afternoon of life," she wrestled with self-doubt and a searing disquietude that would awaken her in the middle of the night. Set adrift by loss—her father's early death; the life-threatening illness of her infant son; her troubled relationship with her mother—she had become edgy and uncertain. At the heart of this anxiety, she realized, was a challenge: What did she believe? Spurred on by the big questions her young son began to raise, Shapiro embarked upon a surprisingly joyful quest to find meaning in a constantly changing world. The result is Devotion: a literary excavation to the core of a life. In this spiritual detective story, Shapiro explores the varieties of experience she has pursued—from the rituals of her black hat Orthodox Jewish relatives to yoga shalas and meditation retreats. A reckoning of the choices she has made and the knowledge she has gained, Devotion is the story of a woman whose search for meaning ultimately leads her home. Her journey is at once poignant and funny, intensely personal—and completely universal.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 44
 Skip this book! July 25, 2010
Artemisia (Manhattan)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have never written a book review before, but I was so disappointed with this superficial drivel, that I felt compelled to warn people off. Ms. Shapiro bounces between the most shallow aspects, it seems, of Judaism, Buddhism, and Hatha Yoga. It's as though at one point someone told her she could write, and that she was very VERY important. She seems to be neither insightful, charitable, mature, or even interesting. Her version of Buddhism seems to only include the New Age ideas of "May I be safe, may I be pleased, may I have life unfold smoothly, may I be healthy". This is what the great Buddha's enlightenment meant? Judaism seems to comprise a few rituals and amulets, that she misses. Hatha Yoga is accompanied by a rock music tape her screenwriter husband has made.
I have also rarely encountered such a materialistic writer in a spiritual genre. Just what does she even mean by the title "Devotion"? To what, Dani Shapiro?
She doesn't just have lunch with her guru, she does so at a window table in the Time Warner building. She doesn't just live in Brooklyn, she resides in a 4-story Federal townhouse. She doesn't just read a book, she becomes best friends with the author (Steve Cope). She can't just buy a mezuzah, she gets a very expensive one on her vacation in Venice. Her son is not just endangered with bad health as an infant, he has one of the rarest diseases ever recorded (IS).
She makes sure to tell us her Conneticut house has a long (1/4 mile) driveway. She can't just dine with a childhood friend. He's a famous (but unnamed) actor. Her mother doesn't just leave clothing behind, she leaves Gucci and Armani in custom-built white shelves. Her mother also leaves behind valuable antiques that she, poor thing, has to dispose of. She doesn't mention until the very end, that her mother. "the brilliant atheist" (Is there any other kind?) has a degree in psychology and had her own practice (very admirable). This is after she has denigrated the poor woman for seeing the therapist, Penny Russianoff (another name-drop) of Unmarried Woman fame. And transcribes private session tapes, so we can see just how awful her mother is.
She also makes sure to tell us of her 6 professional sessions with her and her mother and a Park Avenue (of course) psychiatrist. He later tells her "there is no hope for you and your mother". She clearly thinks this must be her mother's fault, as if to justify her seeming hatred of this woman who she barely talks to. I think perhaps he meant Dani (is the problem). So self-absorbed.
She also mentions attending AA for many years in her early twenties but now "no longer needs it". This certainly gave me pause. Was she just slumming in AA? Or in denial now?
I can not believe this book was even published, let alone positively reviewed. It is the self-aggrandizing, slight, and shallow meanderings of a privileged and ungrateful woman. She is the living embodiment of the stereotype of the New Age seeker, who gains no awakening of any kind, but thinks wisdom is hers to dispense. She must have a few friends in the publishing industry.
 Behind the scenes of Devotion July 20, 2010
Cosmo
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1SPTDEUJNX4LH Author Dani Shapiro shares her inspiration for writing "Devotion".
 Devotion June 26, 2010
Elise Smith (Freestone, California USA)
I think that this book will be of help to anyone that reads it. It fits all beliefs and systems. This is a book we all can enjoy and learn from.
 Interesting but a little self-indulgent June 25, 2010
M. Evans (Los Angeles)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was excited to read Devotion by Dani Shapiro, as i was interested in the premise of the book. We've all gone through phases when we're wondering about why we are here, what is our spiritual anchor, etc. I enjoyed Ms. Shapiro's writing style and the stories about family, but I thought that the emphasis on yoga to find your way through the journey was a little too much and not always easy to relate to.
Two Faces Have I . . . . May 23, 2010
Sunday (PlanetEarth)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
There was something about Dani Shapiro's photograph on the book flap that kept me turning back to look at it. First, I thought it was her cool blonde hair. But no, that wasn't it. There was something about her face. (And no, I didn't think I was one of her long lost cousins.) Finally, I remembered a technique I once read about where you look at a face, but only one eye at a time. Thus, I took a piece of paper and vertically divided her face, looking at one side, and then the other. That showed me what kept drawing me back to the photograph. Looking at the left side of her face, she appears to be a serene soul. Looking at her right side, she appears to be an anxious soul. That is Dani Shapiro. Torn in two.
One suspects that tear started in childhood. Her father was a devout Orthodox Jew. Her mother was a narcissist, who had no love for Orthodox Judaism or her father's relatives. So, why did they marry? I keep thinking I need to read Ms. Shapiro's first memoir, "Slow Motion", to try to figure that out. (Actually, I keep thinking I need to read it, so I can better understand the author, too.) I don't know...but from what I have personally observed in life, men who marry really narcissistic women usually have their own psychological problems, or addictions, before going into the marriage. So, I can't see her father as being a victim, as I think she might. But I am not really sure she does. She apparently has tremendous love for her father. He died when she was young, though, and that often leaves daughters idolizing their fathers. "Devotion", however, is thankfully no "Lies My Mother Never Told Me". Dani Shapiro does not pull a Kaylie Jones, and spend the entire book demonizing her mother, while idolizing her father. In fact, she seems to try to understand her mother and their relationship more than I think she should. I'm not sure she isn't wasting her time doing so. As anyone with a really narcissistic parent knows, everything is about the parent, and nothing is really about the child...or anyone else, for that matter. Ms. Shapiro appears to grieve over the thought that her mother really hated her--her only child. But who her mother really hated was herself, not her daughter. To her, her daughter was just an image of herself. So, why spend your whole life wondering why you and your narcissistic mother had such a terrible relationship? The time would probably be better spent wondering if all the guilt a narcissistic mother dumps on her oldest or only daughter contributes to a sense of doom in adulthood? The guilty are doomed.
Dani Shapiro also wondered why she was born to her mother--what brought the two of them together as mother and child? This made me wonder if she wasn't going to explore reincarnation, since she was exploring Buddhism, as well as other things that might be considered "New Age". Strangely, she does not. Or if she did, she does not disclose what she discovered in this book. I found that interesting, and wondered what she thought, or how much she thought, about the survival of the soul? In Rabbi Elie Spitz' book "Does The Soul Survive?", he told how rabbis were not suppose to wonder what happened to the soul after death, but were suppose to stay focused on life, and to instruct their congregations to do the same. When Ms. Shapiro's son asks what happened to people after they died, she mentions various beliefs such as the belief in Heaven, in reincarnation, etc. She apparently told him various ideas, because she has no definite idea herself. This, of course, makes it easy for the reader to wonder if all of her fears and anxieties aren't rooted in what more than one person has said is the root of all fears--the fear of death. Is it actually the thought of death that is terrifying her and keeping her awake at night?
Ms. Shapiro can't believe in a personal type of loving God, who is always watching over her, and taking an interest in her life. Yet, she still seems at times to fear the wrath of the God she learned about in her childhood. And, she appears to be envious at times of the unquestioning faith of her Orthodox relatives. . . but realizes she can't be like them . . . but she can't cut the cord to them, either. She is a torn soul. When she runs across her cousin, the taxi driver, she appears to be empathizing with him, and mourning the distance between the cousins of her generation. Yet, when she comments on his current appearance, wondering what happened to the good looking boy she once knew, one cannot help but think she is being unkind there . . . or even shallow about looks. The same when she talks about the Adler family. It's like she's trying to show tremendous empathy, but it doesn't exactly come across like that. Instead, it almost sounds at times as if she is glad in some ways to see their perfect lives were shattered by tragedy. I mean, I would be angry if I were either her cousin, or a member of the Adler family, and read what she wrote in this book! Might she be holding a grudge or two there . . . or something? Might she possibly be torn in more ways than one? Her description of the Reform synagogue closest to her Connecticut home was also less than flattering, not to mention ironic. Ms. Shapiro uses this book to explain why she cannot be an Orthodox Jew as an adult, and yet she ends up condemning a Reform synagogue because it was not Orthodox enough for her! Did she actually feel that congregation and their rabbi had some type of obligation to be exactly, or even remotely, how she wanted them to be? If so, why? At that point in the book, I began to wonder if self-absorption wasn't part of the reason the author was having a mid-life crisis of sorts. She never came across as self-pitying, however. Never.
There is a tremendously touching story in "Devotion" about the wedding of a grandchild of Dani Shapiro's Aunt Shirley. I first read it in a woman's magazine. It was a one page condensed version of the story from the book. At first, I was confused about who was who and what was going on. But then, it started to make sense. It was a wonderful story in the magazine, and is a wonderful story in the book. How can you cut the cord to something like that and people like that? Even if you don't truly belong? I wouldn't be able to. I would be torn. But aren't those types of tears created by the idea that there is only one true faith, only one true way to believe, only one true way to live? Dani Shapiro ends her book by describing the various ways one can believe in God, or find meaning in life. What one is devoted to is what keeps one going, what provides meaning to one's life. We all must discover for ourselves who or what deserves our devotion. But the questions that come to my mind after reading "Devotion" are: If one can't sleep, and one is fearful and worried much of the time, does that possibly mean one is devoted to the wrong people or the wrong things? Or that one secretly wonders if one is devoted to the wrong people or the wrong things? Or that one is still intensely devoted to childhood fears and adolescent alienation? If I were a novelist, I think I would worry that giving up all the fears and drama of life would kill my motivation to write! ( Just one more thing to worry about. :)
Showing reviews 1-5 of 44
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