Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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.