Wade Clark Roof, a well-known commentator on religious trends in the United States is the J. F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of many books, including A Generation of Seekers: The Spiritual Lives of the Baby Boom Generation.

"This book shows not only how the 76 million boomers have been shaped by such seeking but how they have remapped the spiritual landscape for all Americans; boomers have shifted attention from the institution to the individual, emphasized 'lived religion' (religion in practice) and created a 'quest culture'."--Publishers Weekly "Baffingly diverse and in a state of historic flux, American religion today defies easy generalization. Wade Clark Roof has tackled the challenge admirably, doing a yeoman's job at compiling vast amounts of often surprising information."--Los Angeles Times "Roof's work thoughtfully articulates the introspective fluidity of the baby-boom generation he studies."--Publishers Weekly "What does it mean [to be] spiritual? That's what Roof has set out to ask and to answer: to track, capture, and name the current varieties of religious or spiritual experience in America. What he's come up with is a kind of metaphysical seed-catalog, a bewildering array of groups and sub-groups, beliefs and opinions, views and world-views, much of it mixed and matched."--Mark Buchanan, Books & Culture "Roof writes in a jargon-free, accessible style, often lucidly summarizing (and challenging) the arguments of other sociologists and cultural observers."--Choice "This is a terrific book ... Roof clearly demonstrates the old saw that people create their gods, not vice versa."--The Key Reporter, Phi Beta Kappa "Full of interesting findings and provocative interpretations."--Sociology of Religion "This is a seminal study for the sociology of religion. It should be considered indispensable to anyone trying to take the spiritual pulse of America."--John A. Coleman, S.J., Spiritus "A significant contribution to understanding trends in the lived religion of many Americans in their question for meaning."--Jackson W. Carroll, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

• Acknowledgments ix INTRODUCTION On Maps and Terrains 3 CHAPTER 1 Varieties of Spiritual Quest 16 CHAPTER 2 The Making of a Quest Culture 46 CHAPTER 3 Spiritual Marketplace 77 CHAPTER 4 On Being Fluid and Grounded III CHAPTER 5 A Quest for What? 145 CHAPTER 6 Redrawing the Boundaries 180 CHAPTER 7 Realigning Family and Religion 217 CHAPTER 8 Moral Vision and Values 254 CONCLUSION "Whirl Is King, Having Driven Out Zeus" 294 APPENDIX Methodology 315 Notes 325 Index 361

Wade Clark Roof, a well-known commentator on religious trends in the United States is the J. F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of many books, including A Generation of Seekers: The Spiritual Lives of the Baby Boom Generation.

"This book shows not only how the 76 million boomers have been shaped by such seeking but how they have remapped the spiritual landscape for all Americans; boomers have shifted attention from the institution to the individual, emphasized 'lived religion' (religion in practice) and created a 'quest culture'."--Publishers Weekly "Baffingly diverse and in a state of historic flux, American religion today defies easy generalization. Wade Clark Roof has tackled the challenge admirably, doing a yeoman's job at compiling vast amounts of often surprising information."--Los Angeles Times "Roof's work thoughtfully articulates the introspective fluidity of the baby-boom generation he studies."--Publishers Weekly "What does it mean [to be] spiritual? That's what Roof has set out to ask and to answer: to track, capture, and name the current varieties of religious or spiritual experience in America. What he's come up with is a kind of metaphysical seed-catalog, a bewildering array of groups and sub-groups, beliefs and opinions, views and world-views, much of it mixed and matched."--Mark Buchanan, Books & Culture "Roof writes in a jargon-free, accessible style, often lucidly summarizing (and challenging) the arguments of other sociologists and cultural observers."--Choice "This is a terrific book ... Roof clearly demonstrates the old saw that people create their gods, not vice versa."--The Key Reporter, Phi Beta Kappa "Full of interesting findings and provocative interpretations."--Sociology of Religion "This is a seminal study for the sociology of religion. It should be considered indispensable to anyone trying to take the spiritual pulse of America."--John A. Coleman, S.J., Spiritus "A significant contribution to understanding trends in the lived religion of many Americans in their question for meaning."--Jackson W. Carroll, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

• Acknowledgments ix INTRODUCTION On Maps and Terrains 3 CHAPTER 1 Varieties of Spiritual Quest 16 CHAPTER 2 The Making of a Quest Culture 46 CHAPTER 3 Spiritual Marketplace 77 CHAPTER 4 On Being Fluid and Grounded III CHAPTER 5 A Quest for What? 145 CHAPTER 6 Redrawing the Boundaries 180 CHAPTER 7 Realigning Family and Religion 217 CHAPTER 8 Moral Vision and Values 254 CONCLUSION "Whirl Is King, Having Driven Out Zeus" 294 APPENDIX Methodology 315 Notes 325 Index 361