This book treats an alternative view of time and our relation to it. It is unabashedly spiritual in its approach. Written by a philosophy professor who has written books in a similar vein on the topics of money and love, this book treats the topic of time differently from most business books and in this is its value. To many perhaps, this will be so much gobbledygook. 

Admittedly, this type of investigation is not best suited to words. Needleman know this. He attempts to provoke the reader into feeling or remembering from their own lives what he's talking about. Needleman poignantly illustrates the problem of time in Western culture. He recounts talking to a doctor friend about his success in medicine and asking about his future. The doctor; "puts down his cup and in an unsteady voice that is part desperation and part anger" says, "I have no time." 

The author nods sympathetically, but his friend persists, "You don't understand. I have no time! I am pathologically busy. It's beyond anything I have ever imaged. I can't give anything the attention it needs. I can't do anything well. ..." 

We can all recognize what the doctor is talking about. Needleman describes this malaise as time famine. We run ourselves by machine time ignoring our inner life where a different, "human time" operates. The cure for the problem is to live in "real time" or "human time" and establish a functioning relationship with machine time, i.e. a relationship between the inner Self and the outer world. He states that the problem of time is "metaphysical. It is a question of the meaning of human life itself." He uses the device of; an explicitly autobiographical novel he would like to write. In the novel that he describes (but has yet to write) he is sent back in time to meet himself as a younger man. Not a new idea, but effective, especially when the reader imagines the situation in his or her own life. Nevertheless, Needleman spends too much time telling us what he would like to show instead of showing it. 

Other recollections from the author's life are more direct and effective. He is intrigued by a statement attributed to Aristotle: "The wise man is never in a hurry." His investigation into and his spontaneous experience of its meaning is instructive and accessible to all. 

The book is also filled with references to and quotes from traditional religious/spiritual texts, which he refers to generically as "the wisdom teachings". In particular a old tale from Central Asia in which a young man meets himself as an old man (interesting idea!) provides a good foundation for much of his discussion. 

The book is a bit too long (at 150 pages) and meandering. Certain parts were enjoyable and others tedious. If, however, you find the time to chew on and digest this book, you will find something that speaks to you deeply and personally. You even remember what it was like before you got busy. 

Reviewed by Paul Holden, TMI USA

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