A nuanced, pragmatic case for the centrality of images and dreams to personal growth.
An acclaimed scholar and poet urges readers to expand their relationship with images and dreams in this nonfiction work.
As part of a Jewish-Buddhist dialogue in India with the Dalai Lama, a group of Jewish delegates, led by author Kamenetz, was asked by the Buddhist spiritual leader how one should deal with the “afflictive emotions” of rage, resentment, anxiety, guilt, and shame. Over three decades later, Kamenetz offers his reply to the Dalai Lama: “Pay more attention to the images in our dreams, memories, and perceptions.” Driven by a belief that “images heal,” and that “dream images are a natural medicine,” Kamenetz emphasizes the spiritual and emotional power of contemplating images, which, he says, can restore “the innate imagination that makes us creative beings.” Author of the international bestseller The Jew in the Lotus (1994), Kamenetz has long been fascinated with the intersection of Buddhism and Judaism. More recently, he founded Natural Dreamwork, an international group of spiritual practitioners that teaches patients how to apply dreams to their personal growth. The book’s first half looks at the power of images broadly, including recollection of memories, while the second focuses more directly on dreams themselves. Though the work leans decisively into Jewish and Buddhist teachings and mysticism, it offers a welcoming approach to spirituality to readers from many religious traditions. It highlights, for instance, the importance of visualization to Catholic prayer life, from the stations of the cross to Ignatius of Loyola’s spiritual exercises. And while the spirituality described here is esoteric and difficult to pigeonhole, Kamenetz is careful to offer readers practical ways they can apply his tenets. One exercise, a “Blessing Practice With Dreams,” provides a three-step process of using meditation to access memory and dream images to open oneself to “absorbing the energies” of the visualized moment. This is an accessible work that blends a learned understanding of global spiritual traditions (backed by 175 research endnotes) with a jargon-free, often conversational spiritual commentary that includes engaging anecdotes and poignant observations.
A nuanced, pragmatic case for the centrality of images and dreams to personal growth.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781958972915
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Monkfish Book Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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