When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough

Kushner's new book is likely to match his When Bad Things Happen to Good People as a bestseller. In the rabbi's sympathetic and eminently readable guide, discontented people can find reasons to banish doubts on whether living is worthwhile. The Book of Ecclesiastes is the main source of reassurance here, for the spiritually bankrupt. Citing the short entry in the Old Testament as ""the most dangerous in the Bible,'' the author argues that a fear of uselessness is humanity's ancient enemy. Ecclesiastes poured out his complaints that all his wealth and wisdom and achievements were nothing: he must die and be forgotten like an animal. Why does God withhold the power to enjoy the gifts that are the scribe's by the grace of God? Exploring the despair voiced in these pages, Kushner emphasizes the lesson that the unknown writer finally learned more than 1000 years agoevery person matters. Readers will benefit from Kushner's advice on making their lives matter to themselves and others. First serial to Redbook; Literary Guild selection. (April 14)