Powerful Prayers: Conversations on Faith, Hope, and the Human Spirit with Today's Most Provocative People

What do sex and prayer have in common? Everybody does it, but nobody talks about it. I used to think it was just sex, but after reading talk-show host Larry King's Powerful Prayers, I found out that everybody's praying. Leave it up to Larry to pry it out of them. Actors Elliott Gould and Steven Seagal, writers Tom Robbins and Anthony Robbins, world leaders Gerald Ford and Margaret Thatcher. We don't normally look to these people for religious advice, but Larry King is obsessed with knowing what prayer is and why people pray. Speaking in his own voice, King, a secular hedonist, blunders through the sage advice of coauthor Rabbi Irwin Katsof, never happy until he hears personal stories of the significance of prayer in daily life. We hear from religious figures as well: Jerry Falwell, Deepak Chopra, the Dalai Lama, and Robert Schuller. But when Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, or billionaire investor John Templeton say that they pray on a daily basis, you sit up and take notice. King learns that prayer has a personal significance unique to each person's own experience. Reading about this variety of opinions on prayer and following along on King's mission, makes Powerful Prayers one powerful experience. --Brian Bruya