Peck's latest offering is the final installment of his ``Road Less Traveled'' trilogy (The Road Less Traveled, 1978, Further Along the Road Less Traveled, 1993) and a synthesis of his thinking to date. Is there a link between personal growth, spirituality, and basic mental health? Peck has spent much of his adult life arguing that such a link exists and struggling with the more difficult task of describing it. In this new work he focuses not on health but on its absence, asserting that many forms of human evil can be traced to a failure to face up to the challenge of thinking for ourselves. Confronted by life's complexities, we fall back on stereotypes in the way that we see things and treat each other. Peck goes on to argue that we must cultivate the ability to think clearly, as well as a healthy love of self (and an awareness of our own mortality), if we are not to be swept up in damaging group-driven behavior. He criticizes the denial of God and the human soul in many circles, not least by psychiatrists and the helping professions generally, as instances of simplistic thinking. As in The Road Less Traveled, Peck warns that, contrary to what our culture tells us, difficulty and pain are unavoidable ingredients of the process of personal growth. However, he now believes that his earlier stance in favor of traditional American individualism needs to be amplified by an awareness of our common interdependence and the notion of community. Peck speaks from his own personal and professional experience as a psychiatrist. This gives his writing a powerful existential quality; yet together with his habit of frequently quoting from his own books, it sometimes makes him sound pompous, as if he alone has honestly wrestled with the perennial philosophical and theological issues he raises. Generally balanced, though, and challenging; sure to appeal to Peck's large following. (Literary Guild alternate selection)

This is the final volume in a trilogy begun with The Road Less Traveled, which has commandeered the New York Times Best Sellers list for over 666 weeks. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

With this book, the hands-down most popular psychological and spiritual growth adviser concludes what he calls his Road Trilogy, the previous volumes of which are perennial best-sellers The Road Less Traveled (1978) and Further Along the Road Less Traveled (1993). One need not have read either of those to fully appreciate--indeed, to profit--from this book. Peck very cogently conflates psychiatry and Christianity in order to persuade readers that they are never going to be perfect, nor is the world going to be perfect, but that they can live responsibly and helpfully for both themselves and others if they will live thoughtfully and commit themselves to growing toward God. In the three parts of this book, Peck specifically counsels readers on rising above "simplism" by learning to live thoughtfully, on making choices in everyday life, and on pursuing the "science" of God. What finally makes Peck so compelling is his stress on complexity and paradox. He concedes, for instance, that rebelling against religion is often fundamental to continuing the journey to spiritual wholeness. "In the end," he assures, "all things point to God," who for him is, to paraphrase the hymnodist, the deep where all our thoughts are drowned--and glorified. --Ray Olson

Philosophical psychiatrist Peck (Further Along the Road Less Traveled) continues his journey through the existential conflicts and baffling paradoxes on the meandering road of personal development. Mixing selections of pre-digested Freud and Jung for nonacademic consumption, along with an idiosyncratic idea of an immanent yet bland non-denominational God, Peck guides pilgrims toward emotional and spiritual growth. His style is smooth and conversational, though his concession to political correctness, through alternating male and female personal pronouns, can be annoying. He is at his best in colorful anecdotes about his professional and personal life. In these instances, his insights reflect the experiences of a thoughtful and gentle man who has tried to find wisdom in a life that has known both sunlight and shade. Peck's hard-edged insistence on personal responsibility in everyone's life, and on an awareness of evil and sin as real, elevate his discourse from cloying New Age palaver to a meaningful concern about humanity's place in the cosmic order. His honesty in writing about, and working through, his own shortcomings testifies to his integrity and lends credence to his observations. Through copious detailed references from his previous books, he allows readers unfamiliar with them to understand and enjoy the present work, which completes his Road trilogy. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternate selection. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved