It's All in the Playing

The fifth volume in one of the most extraordinary personal odysseys of the twentieth century. Don't Fall Off the Mountain, You Can Get There From Here,Out on a Limb,Dancing in the Lightand now the most intimate and compelling book of all,It's All in the Playing. Oscar-winning actress, social activist, singular entertainer, best-selling author Shirley MacLaine has the courage to be both candid and controversial. In this book, she casts herself in her most challenging role yet--as seeker of personal and metaphysical truth. It began in Peru ten years ago and ended in Peru ten years later. But the steps along the way were the real story. In filming the miniseriesOut on a Limb, Shirley MacLaine was forced to recreate herself ten years earlier. to journey back from Malibu to London, from Sweden to the mysterious landscape of Peru... to the places, the perceptions and profound emotions she experienced then. And to journey beyond, exploring new personal and cosmic dimensions, the choices of her lifetimes, who she was and who she would become. As the heart of Shirley MacLaine's testament is a compelling challenge: we choose our own destinies, create our own illusions. We have the power to design the world in which we live, and the strength to remake ourselves in the image of our dreams.

Shirley Maclaine was born and raised in Virginia. She began her career as a Broadway dancer and singer, then progressed to featured performer and award-winning actress in television and films. She has traveled extensively around the world, and her experiences in Africa, Bhutan, and the Far East formed the basis for her first two bestsellers, Don’t Fall Off the Mountain and You Can Get There From Here. Her investigations into the spiritual realm were the focus of Out on a Limb, Dancing in the Light, It’s All in the Playing, and Going Within, all of which were national and worldwide bestsellers. In her intimate memoir Dance While You Can, she wrote about aging, relationships, work, her parents, her daughter, and her own future as an artist and a woman. My Lucky Stars: A Hollywood Memoir offers a candid and searching look at her forty years in Hollywood and the stars who taught her about show business and life.