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How Ritual Created the World--and How It Can Save Us
by Bruce Feiler
One of our great decoders of human connection chronicles the astonishing rise of new rituals around the world—and offers a road map for restoring togetherness with gatherings you'll love.
Since time immemorial, humans have turned to ritual to connect us in periods of change. Until today. Birth rituals and coming-of-age rituals have plummeted; fewer than half of Americans are married; only one in three is buried. "It took us ten thousand years to establish cultural norms around how we mark collective life transitions," writes Bruce Feiler. "It took us fifty years to dismantle them." Can this threat to society be reversed?
To find out, Feiler went on a round-the-world ritual road trip, attending—and participating in—life rituals in sixteen countries on six continents. These spectacles, some rarely seen, include a mass baptism in the Vatican, a tribal bride price negotiation in South Africa, an adolescent tooth filing in Bali, six weddings in Las Vegas, and ten funerals in Ireland.
Beyond the decline in traditional rituals, Feiler discovered that we are in the midst of a ritual renaissance that is pushing back against apathy, loneliness, and digital saturation. Fed up with top-down scripts, everyday people, from boomers to Gen Z, are reimagining collective rituals at a remarkable pace, inventing fresh ways to gather around life, love, health, and family—and forging thriving communities in the process.
As he did with Life Is in the Transitions, Feiler also collected stories of a hundred ritual designers and built a first-of-its kind database of ideas to make gatherings more effective—from creating sacred space to mediating conflict to generating "wows" that guests will talk about forever.
From a master storyteller uncovering a thrilling phenomenon hiding in plain sight, A Time to Gather is both a stirring adventure and practical manual. It's a landmark guide to modern ritual; a tool kit for turning everyday moments into unforgettable celebrations; and an invitation to reconnect and rejoice—together.
"An inspiring and thought-provoking look at how ceremony helps us thrive" —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"In a world torn apart by political clashes and anger ... [A Time to Gather] offers steps to construct meaningful rituals to transition through tough times and supply much-needed hope." —Booklist (starred review)
"A powerful case for the continued importance of ritual." —Publishers Weekly
"Today, we are more connected than ever—but strangely, more alone as well. In A Time to Gather, Bruce Feiler explains why this is, and how to fix it in your life. Read this wonderful book and find what you have been looking for: your true home." —Arthur C. Brooks, Harvard Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling author
"In A Time to Gather, Bruce Feiler offers a profound meditation on the importance of ritual and explores a global renaissance of how we create new ways to give moments meaning. Feiler travels the world to examine the quiet power of repeated acts, from the sacred to the secular, the ancient to the modern. We all long for connection, meaning, and community. This book shows us how to create it." —Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Supercommunicators
This information about A Time to Gather was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo Credit: Andrew Feiler
Bruce Feiler is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers, including Life Is in the Transitions, The Secrets of Happy Families, and Walking the Bible. His three TED Talks have been viewed more than five million times, and he teaches the TED Course "How to Master Life Transitions." A native of Savannah, Georgia, Bruce lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Linda Rottenberg, and their twin daughters.
Author Interview
Link to Bruce Feiler's Website
Name Pronunciation
Bruce Feiler: fi-ler (first syllable rhymes with my)
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