Same author as for "The Road Less Traveled." If you liked his other books, you may like this one. Its his version of what can be expected "when life as we know it, ends."
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
True to its title, Peck's second novel for adults (after A Bed by the Window) imagines an afterlife which, through a number of set pieces, dramatizes some of the earthly concerns of his other books, including the perpetual bestseller, The Road Less Traveled. Daniel, a psychiatrist and successful author much like Peck himself, awakens in a small green room to discover that he has survived his physical death. Hovering about, disembodied but alert, he meets a pair of "greeters" who inform him that heaven, hell and purgatory?Judeo-Christian ideas pervade the narrative?are governed by a "Principle of Freedom." Each soul projects what it wishes to experience?though sometimes, as with Daniel's green refuge, projections are created by committees in order to ease the "Adjustment" from life to the formlessness of heaven. Peck's hell is a garbage can in which about 140,000 souls hide under rocks, too terrified to accept their freedom to choose a greater reality. In time, Daniel learns that purgatory has to do with clinging to mental and emotional attachments; to help the souls there, the most attentive and loving psychotherapy imaginable is provided. Several further encounters?with his deceased wife, a son, a seductive woman?help Daniel let go of his own attachments until he is ready to join a committee. Though talky and lacking dramatic momentum, this story, more a consoling philosophical vision than a full-bodied novel, should appeal to Peck's readership. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Combining the hollow spirituality of Betty Eadie's Embraced by the Light with the shallow mysticism of Deepak Chopra's The Way of the Wizard, Peck's novel follows narrator Daniel Turpin as he journeys from death into the afterlife. Turpin soon discovers that, like a Wal-Mart store, the afterlife has Greeters who welcome him into this new realm and who act as his guides through his initial period of adjustment. Throughout his journey, Daniel moves from one stage of the afterlife to another as his understanding of the spiritual realm gradually increases. More psychotherapy and philosophy than fiction, Peck's novel depends upon tired humor and overworked cliches like "metaphorically speaking" to plod through a dull plot. Not one of Peck's better works, but fans will crave his latest, so most libraries will want at least one copy.
From Publishers Weekly
True to its title, Peck's second novel for adults (after A Bed by the Window) imagines an afterlife which, through a number of set pieces, dramatizes some of the earthly concerns of his other books, including the perpetual bestseller, The Road Less Traveled. Daniel, a psychiatrist and successful author much like Peck himself, awakens in a small green room to discover that he has survived his physical death. Hovering about, disembodied but alert, he meets a pair of "greeters" who inform him that heaven, hell and purgatory?Judeo-Christian ideas pervade the narrative?are governed by a "Principle of Freedom." Each soul projects what it wishes to experience?though sometimes, as with Daniel's green refuge, projections are created by committees in order to ease the "Adjustment" from life to the formlessness of heaven. Peck's hell is a garbage can in which about 140,000 souls hide under rocks, too terrified to accept their freedom to choose a greater reality. In time, Daniel learns that purgatory has to do with clinging to mental and emotional attachments; to help the souls there, the most attentive and loving psychotherapy imaginable is provided. Several further encounters?with his deceased wife, a son, a seductive woman?help Daniel let go of his own attachments until he is ready to join a committee. Though talky and lacking dramatic momentum, this story, more a consoling philosophical vision than a full-bodied novel, should appeal to Peck's readership. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Combining the hollow spirituality of Betty Eadie's Embraced by the Light with the shallow mysticism of Deepak Chopra's The Way of the Wizard, Peck's novel follows narrator Daniel Turpin as he journeys from death into the afterlife. Turpin soon discovers that, like a Wal-Mart store, the afterlife has Greeters who welcome him into this new realm and who act as his guides through his initial period of adjustment. Throughout his journey, Daniel moves from one stage of the afterlife to another as his understanding of the spiritual realm gradually increases. More psychotherapy and philosophy than fiction, Peck's novel depends upon tired humor and overworked cliches like "metaphorically speaking" to plod through a dull plot. Not one of Peck's better works, but fans will crave his latest, so most libraries will want at least one copy.
