THERE'S A SPIRITUAL SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM

The first half of this book is virtually interchangeable with any number of manuals by Deepak Chopra, John Bradshaw and Marianne Williamson. Self-help guru Dyer urges readers not to let their problems get them down; problems, he chirps, are just illusions anyway. Like many other pop spirituality writers in our multicultural age, Dyer draws on spiritual wisdom from the world over, peppering his pages with quotations from the Bhagavad Gita and the Bible. Dyer too often veers into the blatantly self-promotional, weaving in letters from readers who say their lives have been utterly transformed by following his advice. But the second half of the book—an extended meditation on Francis of Assisi's well-known prayer "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace"—distinguishes this offering from the rest of the self-help pack. Dyer urges readers to choose peace, to think about the sun's light and energy when they stumble into a place of darkness and to focus on hope when all they feel is despair. He advises acting loving in situations filled with anger and hate, letting go of fear and "shifting from pessimism to optimism." These aren't breathtakingly original suggestions, but Dyer, returning again and again to the words of St. Francis, presents such familiar lessons in a fresh and loving way. Dyer's large and loyal following will enjoy this book, but he would have done his readers a favor by lopping off the first 140 pages. (Sept.)