Climbing The Mountain: My Search For Meaning - Softcover

Douglas, Kirk

Softcover

ISBN 10: 068486584X ISBN 13: 9780684865843

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2000

Synopsis

With the simple power and astonishing candor that made his 1988 autobiography, The Ragman's Son, a number one international bestseller, Kirk Douglas now shares his quest for spirituality and Jewish identity -- and his heroic fight to overcome crippling injuries and a devastating stroke. On February 13, 1991, at the age of seventy-four, Kirk Douglas, star of such major motion-picture classics as Champion, Spartacus, and Paths of Glory, was in a helicopter crash, in which two people died and he himself sustained severe back injuries. As he lay in the hospital recovering, he kept wondering: Why had two younger men died while he, who had already lived his life fully, survived? The question drove this son of a Russian-Jewish ragman to a search for his roots and on a long journey of self-discovery -- a quest not only for the meaning of life and his own relationship with God, but for his own identity as a Jew. Through the study of the Bible, Kirk Douglas found a new spirituality and purpose. His newfound faith deeply enriched his relationship with his own children and taught him -- a man who had always been famously demanding and impatient -- to listen to others and, above all, to hear his own inner voice. Told with warmth, wit, much humor, and deep passion, Climbing the Mountain is inspirational in the very best sense of the word.

About this title

Review

Born Issur Danielovich to a poor family in Amsterdam, New York, Kirk Douglas changed his name and identity, rocketing to fame as one of Hollywood's great macho actors. But in the 1990s, the eighth decade of his life, Douglas was transformed by a number of tragic incidents that forced him to heed the voice of little Issur that still resided within him. This frank, smoothly written autobiography, which somehow manages to be warm-hearted, pompous and moving all at the same time, picks up where The Ragman's Son, Douglas's earlier memoir, left off. In Climbing the Mountain the actor turned philosopher talks about the helicopter accident that killed two younger men while leaving him alive, the death of his friend Burt Lancaster and the debilitating effects of a minor stroke. All of these incidents caused him to re-evaluate his life, to acknowledge the voice and integrity of the Issur Danielovich he left behind, and to return to the Jewish faith. Climbing the Mountain is the book of a real survivor, a man walking the path of old age with dignity, thoughtfulness and humour.

Review

Sharon Waxman The Washington Post Corageous....Thoughtful in its questions....Engaging.

Barbara Fisher The Boston Globe The sincerity and simplicity of this memoir make it almost impossible to criticize.

Larry King USA Today Kirk Douglas' memoir, Climbing the Mountain, is one terrific book.

President Jimmy Carter Kirk Douglas shares his very personal search for the meaning of life, and through his struggle, he helps us all discover our own spirituality.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 068486584X
• ISBN 13: 9780684865843
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 276