Fortunately, it's also Douglas's lame but amusing effort to palm off lots of little anecdotes about life as a movie star in the guise of a book about religion: The time his son, movie star Michael Douglas, gave him a new car for his birthday. Flirting with Liv Tyler at a gas station ("Why is it that I meet the most beautiful girls when my wife is around?"). Seeing Michelle Pfeiffer at synagogue ("Maybe Michelle will convert to Judaism--what a boost that would be for the Jews"). Although it's hard to keep from rolling your eyes while reading this book, it's also hard to put "Climbing the Mountain" down.