In Search of Stones: A Pilgrimage of Faith, Reason, and Discovery

Connecticut psychiatrist Peck (The Road Less Traveled) spent three weeks in 1992 traveling with his wife, Lily, a psychotherapist, through the English countryside, visiting Stonehenge, other prehistoric stone circles, megalithic tombs, earthworks and medieval cathedrals. That trip is the framework for this quirky, magical blend of autobiography, travel, spiritual meditation, history and Arthurian legend. Peck candidly discusses his addiction to tobacco and his habitual alcohol use, his emotional estrangement from his three grown children, his repeated operations for degenerative disc disease, his wife's recurrent depressions, his wealth and the strength of his marriage despite his many sexual infidelities. He describes his encounter with a benevolent sprite, a ``spirit of mirth'' that entered his psyche, in 1986. He writes of Merlin, the Druids, the Protestant Reformation and the Quakers, whose outlook inspired the community-building workshops he and his wife conduct. Enhanced by 30 evocative drawings, Peck's soaring meditations on faith, art, despair and self-integration make this a rewarding spiritual odyssey. (Apr.)