Deeply Into the Bone Re-Inventing Rites of Passage

"There is no other book even remotely like this. Deeply into the Bone is an exceptional, imaginative book on the topic of rites and the shaping of human life. Grimes is one of the few people who ably combines scholarly disciplines and perspectives with firsthand narratives, literary essays, films and observations of general culture. He is unquestionably a first-rate author and thinker, and this is an unquestionably magnificent book."—Lawrence Hoffman, author of Covenant of Blood "Deeply into the Bone is guaranteed to change our minds about ritual. Using a global and ethnic array of rites new and old, Grimes shows that contrary to popular belief, the ritual marking of life passages is anything but universal. By teaching us how to think comparatively we see that rites of passage are enduring rituals not for their uniformity, but because they serve as cornerstones for cultural and spiritual creativity and innovation."—Madeline Duntley, College of Wooster