Rating: 
Summary: Best book on spirituality I've read in 5 years, maybe ever.
Review: I'm not going to say much because it would take away from the time you should spend reading this book. If you are open to any level of insight into your own life, and you are if you are reading this review, this book will have something worthwhile to say to you. My thanks to Mr. Levoy for a huge research job and for passing on an enormous labor of love from which any and all can benefit.
Rating: 
Summary: Transcendentalizing dribble
Review: I'm somewhat ambivalent about this book; if it were possible to give two ratings, I'd give it a four and a one. The four for the fundamental idea of the vital importance of being aware, of keeping your eyes, ears, and soul open; of not ignoring anything, of gathering your insights, of giving yourself time, of being a full-time listener. All of this doesn't come naturally to us; at best our life experience forces the realization of these things--and oftentimes we still manage to ignore it. On that level this book is thought provoking, and I'd give it a solid four were it not for the following:
Contrary to what some reviewers here say, the book is NOT well written: it is mind-numbingly wordy, imprecise, preachy, vapidly transcendentalizing, politically correct, high-falutin and vague, affectatious (it's not a "singer", it's "vocal artist"; it's not a historian, but a "mythologist", not a "writer", but "storyteller", etc.)
There's this typical combination of artificial, purposely inflated vocabulary ("purgation", "liminal", oh man, I needed to look this one up in the dictionary,) with a ton of--yes, plain and dumb--usage errors: p. 180 "in this deep strata" ("strata" is plural), p 218, "...without an advanced degree; voluntarism counts for little on a resume"--surely, "volunteerism" was meant here. Page 228, "in the Afghani tongue, the verb..."--there's no such thing as "the Afghani tongue"; p. 242, "he often got sidetracked by the arguments of practicality", where something like "practical matters" is actually meant; p.243 "which fits neatly into a run-on sentence"--related to the phrase that is not a run-on sentence by any means; p. 323, "Every time we honor a calling, we also ameliorate our fear of what lies hidden in us..."--yet, to ameliorate means to improve, not lessen, or obviate, or palliate, or diminish, or lighten; you can't "improve" your fears (unless you're trying to frighten yourself, of course.) Page 142, "Not all myths follow this structure to the letter of the law". The idiom is either "to the letter" or "letter of the law", but not both jumbled together.
That's just a sampling.
The author does not like to say what he wants to say in his own words, sharply and concisely: he prefers to endlessly quote someone else: there's half a dozen quotations on every page--"as this guy says", "as that girl testifies", "as this genleman puts it", "what renown therapist Joe Blow describes as", and so on and so forth; this gives the book a distinct taste of quotation dictionary. As a result what he's intending to say comes out ten-times-the-volume, half-irrelevant and distracting--thus frustrating the reader anticipating a (hopefully, sharp) expression of the author's original thought. Perhaps this is simply a trick, an insidious new way of padding books? Whatever the case may be, the book is unenjoyable, hard to read (and even to parse at times.)
I've mentioned just a few crudest, most jarring flaws, but the overall writing is simply impossible, though I'm no editor and don't want to get into the structure, paragraphs, and sentences. This great gury (and a professional writer!) can't write--and his editor didn't want to edit either; there are typos too ("heiroglyph", "reknowned"), it's not even proofread.
The overall book, in intent and style, seems to be inspired by Nachmanovitch's Free Play (which is a wonderful book; please read it before or even instead of this one: it's refreshingly sharp AND small) and something like Csikzhentmihaly's Creativity; Callings is a knockoff, and not a well-made one. Another thing I've noticed is that the writing is very uneven throughout the book: it feels like different parts of it were written at different times and even by different people. To be fair, most of the last third of the book feels better than the rest (maybe because it stands out against the dismal background?)
The main problem with the above, as I see it, is this: the idea of being aware is a very important one--for the young (youth being a relative notion; it's more about maturity of course than age.) But I could espy this message in this book only because I have already discovered it on my own; it was not learning, but recognition of the already known for me. So, while I'm glad to agree on fundamentals with the author, strictly speaking, people like me are not the target audience. Otoh, someone who objectively stands to benefit from a book like that--a young reader, most likely--will probably be repulsed by the annoyingly inferior writing and simply refuse to read the book. And, I regret to say, be the better for it.
Go read Nachmanovitch's Free Play instead (or anything by Csikzhentmihaly.) Unlike Gregg Levoy, these two aren't men of letters by profession, but they did a much better thinking, articulating, and writing job somehow.
(Note: Page numbers cited in this review are from the hardback edition of the book.)
Rating:
Summary: From one author to another, you've done an outstanding job!
Review: I'm still in the middle of the book, but I'm amazed at how well written and insightful it is! This writer is one bright man with a gift for creating unique and powerful metaphor, a key to reaching a reader. Thanks for making YOUR calling so helpful to the rest us as we search to uncover ours.
Rating:
Summary: A book to be read over and over.
Review: I'm usually a skimmer. I like to pick out the good points of a book and skip the rest. However, I soon realized that if I overlooked any portion of this book, I would be missing something. Originally, a friend at work let me borrow a copy. By the end of the week, I ordered my own book. Gregg Levoy has done a great deal of research for this title. The quotes are on target and very pertinent to the theme of "Callings". If this book does nothing for you, put it away for awhile, you may not be ready for the message. For everyone else, enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely inspirational book
Review: If you've ever wondered if you have a calling, or wondered what a calling is, or wondered what it takes to follow a calling, then read this book. If you've gotten this far in my review, then you were meant to read the book. Trust me. Trust your calling to lead you.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written, but tends toward repetitive
Review: Levoy is a talented, beautiful writer and his concept of "callings" is a powerful way to make us all think about how to make our lives meaningful, and how to listen to that inner voice that our society is so good at training us to tune out.However, the concept wears thin after about 100 pages. It gets repetitive. By the end of the book I felt like I feel after I've eaten too much chocolate. A little less would have been just as good. Some of his examples get pretty new-agey, which is a shame since I think you can find your inner voice, listen and respond to your callings without having to go meditate in some desert or adopt a belief system that seems a bit "out there." His message is compelling enough that I'd hate to see it lost on people who aren't as inclined as he is toward the ethereal. Still, compelling food for thought and a good way to kick yourself in the pants if you're feeling "stuck" and knowing there most be more to life than this.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written, but tends toward repetitive
Review: Levoy is a talented, beautiful writer and his concept of "callings" is a powerful way to make us all think about how to make our lives meaningful, and how to listen to that inner voice that our society is so good at training us to tune out. However, the concept wears thin after about 100 pages. It gets repetitive. By the end of the book I felt like I feel after I've eaten too much chocolate. A little less would have been just as good. Some of his examples get pretty new-agey, which is a shame since I think you can find your inner voice, listen and respond to your callings without having to go meditate in some desert or adopt a belief system that seems a bit "out there." His message is compelling enough that I'd hate to see it lost on people who aren't as inclined as he is toward the ethereal. Still, compelling food for thought and a good way to kick yourself in the pants if you're feeling "stuck" and knowing there most be more to life than this.
Rating:
Summary: A guidebook on becoming your own guide
Review: Read this. "Callings" clearly gives you the tools, motivation, and resources to initiate real improvements in your career and personal life. It's not a preachy, "HOW TO" thing, but rather an enlightening journey through a great deal of intelligently compiled information from a superior resevoir of sources. Other career review books tend to be guides to wealthy socialites with resources and risk tolerance to spare. Levoy's book appeals to a more dynamic audience, from College grads to working stiffs to semi-retired baby boomers in search for something new. I have to say that it's the only career book of its kind that really inspires one to seek purpose in our worklives (partially a result of his creative writing flair). Thank you Gregg.
Rating:
Summary: Direct-dial your intuition
Review: The term "calling" is rather misleading: it implies something unequivocal and unmistakable, like Moses hearing a voice from the burning bush or Paul being knocked off his horse. But, more often, it's a whisper you have to strain to hear, or a series of little signs you'll overlook if you aren't paying attention. Levoy's book is less a how-to guide than a meditation on the nature of callings and how to listen for them. He uses many examples from his own life, but, to his credit, he doesn't take himself too seriously or pretend that he has The Answer to anyone's questions about the meaning of life -- even his own. And his subjective insights are balanced by plentiful examples from the experiences of others. His anecdotal style, his heavy use of quotations, and the circular structure of many chapters might frustrate a reader looking for direct guidance, but I found the book thought-provoking and intuition-stimulating. It's the sort of book you can pick up at any time, flip through, and find a paragraph or a chapter that sets off new sparks in your mind. My one complaint is that he often isn't specific enough about the source of a quotation -- e.g., "Goethe wrote ..." is NO help at all with the author of such bagatelles as Faust, Parts I and II! Otherwise, I thought his reference section offered excellent suggestions for further reading: you can pick a quotation that resonates with you, and follow it up with more of that author's writings. Finally, his writing is a great pleasure to read -- it's fluid without becoming monotonous, and well expresses the twists and eddies of his or his subject's thoughts. I enjoyed the book thoroughly, and plan to reread it.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a jewel
Review: This book fascinates and motivates. It's well-written, and it's not just "talk theory." Levoy has lived his message. He reinforces his points with one amazing story after another from his own and others' experiences. This is one of my favorite books of all time, and over the years, I've read it, or parts of it, many, many times. My only problem is the set-up. What were his editors thinking? Sometimes I've wanted to go back and re-read a favorite story -- but have had trouble finding it because there isn't an index, and the table of contents doesn't lay out the topics in such a way that I can go back and find things later. Hence, my copy is overflowing with sticky notes so that I can go back and find my favorite stories and topics. But blame the editors, not Levoy. Think of it as driving a little longer to get to a 5-star restaurant. This book is worth your time. It's truly the best source of inspiration and motivation I've ever read. Levoy is an incredible and fluid writer. (...) I love this book, give it to friends, and recommend it as often as I can.
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