Emberley, Peter. Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2002 294 pp. $32.00 CAD ISBN 0-00-200094-6.

[1] In this book, Peter Emberley, a professor of political science and philosophy at Carleton University, undertakes to document the spiritual searchings of Canadians of the baby-boom generation (8.1 million babies born between 1946 and 1964), as well as to provide a commentary on "the complex state of current religious consciousness" (p. 19) Over a ten-year period, the author interviewed some 350 subjects, travelled extensively across Canada (with side-trips to Pennsylvania and India), reviewed a great volume of written material, and was a participant observer at a variety of religious events and communities Following from sociologist Reginald Bibby's data on the decline in church attendance in Canada in the last half of the 20^th century, the individuals and groups canvassed by Emberley are all, as the title of the book suggests, involved in "alternative" religious or spiritual movements as opposed to "mainline" religious institutions. While Emberley concedes that the number of persons involved is small, these people are significant, he contends, because they are highly sophisticated, self-aware, and socially influential, and offer evidence of a movement towards the restoration of a mytho-poetic word view over against the certainties of modernity.

[2] The book is organized around Peter Berger's observation that in the face of the challenges to faith of the modern era, religion can be expressed in one of three ways: "by reaffirming the authority of the tradition in defiance of surrounding challenges; by secularizing the tradition; or by extracting the experiences embodied in the tradition" (p. 22) Rather than attempting to summarize all of his findings, Emberley provides snapshots of the various spiritual activities of baby-boomers, sometimes portrayingƒ individuals, sometimes groups These are arranged in chapters that roughly follow Berger's categories:

• "Traditionalism I" - "back to basics religiosity," typified by groups like Promise Keepers, attendees at a Billy Graham Crusade in Ottawa, members of the Pentecostal Toronto Christian Airport Church (the "Toronto Blessing"), a sweat lodge outside of Edmonton, a Mormon community in Cardston, Alberta;
  
  

• "Traditionalism II" - Christianities harking back to the Greek and Latin beginnings of the faith, such as ultra-conservative forms of Catholicism (churches that have returned to the Tridentine Mass; Opus Dei; schismatic groups like the Apostles of Infinite Love in Saint-Jovite, Quebec); "catholic" forms of Anglicanism (the Anglican Prayerbook Society of Canada); converts to Eastern Orthodoxy;
  
  

• "Tweaking Modernity" - adaptations of religion to secular norms, such as the demythologized forms of Christianity exemplified by Rev. Bill Phipps, the former Moderator of the United Church of Canada who shocked the nation with his denial of the divinity of Christ; the Jesus Seminar, with its radically historicized, secularized Jesus; and the optimistic, universalistic, unitarian Baha'i faith, 20,000 strong in Canada, including some 7,000 Aboriginal Canadians.
  
  

• "Fusion Faith" - bricoleur religion, individualized spiritualities pieced together from fragments of eastern and western mysticism, ancient religions, latter-day prophecies, and commercialism As examples of this trend, Emberley points to SpiritFest '99, a trade show of New Age merchandize held at Calgary's Blackfoot Inn; the popularity of James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy, the Course in Miracles and Pathwork lectures as avenues to transcendence; the kabbalistic teachings of Rabbi Laibl Wolf, available to the masses through breathing and visualization tapes; and the Anglican Church's popular Alpha Program, designed by the British Reverend Nicholas Gumbel to bring spiritual seekers back to the Christian fold.
  
  

• "Turning East."ƒ In addition to Berger's traditional, secularized and eclectic expressions of post-modern religiosity, Emberley discusses the "escape to the East" as the consummate fulfillment of baby boomers' critique of modernity and spiritual proclivities This chapter is devoted to a discussion of the International Meditation Institute (IMI, "I am I," "Shyam Space") in the Kullu Valley, nestled in the lower Himalayas, where devotees of Swami Shyam - some 200 of whom are members of Canada's social, political and economic elite - retreat for spiritual refreshment and mystical enlightenment.

[3] As the summary above indicates, this book contains some fascinating insights into the spiritual lives of some Canadians However, whether this attitude of alternative spiritual quest is indicative of a larger national trend is questionable in the light of Bibby's latest study (Restless Gods: The Renaissance of Religion in Canada [Toronto: Stoddart, 2002]), published in the same year as Divine Hunger In contrast to Bibby's earlier findings (Fragmented Gods, 1987; Unknown Gods, 1993), the latest survey indicates that 21^st century Canadians are returning to established denominations rather than turning to the kinds of alternatives documented in Emberley's study, which seem to be exceptional, rather than indicative of a larger social trend Perhaps the two should be read together for a balanced picture of baby-boomer religion in Canada.

[4] Unlike Bibby's sociological works, Emberley sets out to provide philosophical commentary on the phenomena he describes In addition to recounting examples of Canadians on "spiritual walkabout," the book includes lengthy critiques of the various religious strategies adopted by middle-aged Canadians to satisfy their desire for meaning and transcendence Emberley judges all of the baby-boomer spiritualities as inadequate on the basis of a personal standard that is never explicitly articulated, but which seems to favour religiosities that are Western, historically grounded, and philosophically and theologically consistent As such, the author's critiques of the baby-boomer spiritualities tells us more about his personal religious preferences that the supposed deficiencies of his subjects'. The author subscribes to the stereotype of baby boomers (a huge and varied cohort of the Canadian population born up to 20 years apart) as narcissistic, materialistic and somewhat shallow, which may colour his presentation of their spiritual yearnings Some of the examples used to illustrate the national religious scene aren't particularly Canadian (e.g., the Jesus Seminar, The Celestine Prophecy, the Course in Miracles, Rabbi Wolf), and appear to be included more to be criticized than to illumine the contemporary Canadian religious scene Some inclusions seem idiosyncratic, e.g., the relatively lengthy (and sympathetic) sections devoted to the opinions of the Rev. Bill Phipps and to the fusion spirituality of the New Ager Deborah - both of whom are personal acquaintances of the author The term "Gnostic", used in a derogatory sense, is applied to such diverse phenomena as the Mormon Church, Jean Vanier (the Roman Catholic founder of L'Arche) and IMI.

[5] As such, the book is an interesting read, but perhaps not the cornucopia of alternative spiritualities in Canada promised by the dust jacket Prospective buyers should note that the text contains numerous and annoying typos (e.g., the kabbalistic phrase Tikkun Olam is repeatedly rendered Tikun Olan; kabbalah is spelled both with and without the final "h"; chakra is misspelled chokra), as well as some obvious errors of fact (e.g., Arianism does not accept only the humanity of Christ while denying his divinity, but rather interprets Jesus as a superlative created being "of like substance" [homoiousios] with God [p. 84]; the Nicene-Constanitinopolitan Creed, not the Apostles' Creed, contains the phrase "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. . . ." [p. 86])

Mary Ann Beavis, Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, St. Thomas More College, 1437 College Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 0W6 Canada (mbeavis@stmcollege.ca).