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Title: Traveling Mercies : Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott ISBN: 0-385-49609-5 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 15 February, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.3 (237 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: An inspiring book.
Comment: I picked this book up in an airport as a present for an Episcopal friend, expecting not to be interested myself---and promptly read the whole book before the plane had landed. I've been familiar with Anne Lamott from fiction, other books of essays, and local radio programs for a while now, but only with this book did I realize that she has a strong religious identity. To be honest, I expected that to put me off---like so many, I feel plenty "spiritual" but get a little antsy when anyone else talks about their specific belief set, especially one so dogmatic as Christianity. This book, however, is more about the spiritual questions that consume us all (yes, even us non-Christians) and the joy and pain of our attempts to answer them. Anne is completely readable, funny, and (unlike many writers who tackle the topic of spirituality), NOT HOKEY. Well worth reading, and, for me, re-reading in sections pretty often.
Rating: 5
Summary: Funny, witty, endearing, a book for the open-minded...
Comment: I read this book in about one day, couldn't put it down--am not now nor have ever been either Alcoholic or Christian. In fact, I seldom read books on religion, faith, or spirituality and chose this particular text because I am an Annie Lamott fan, not a believer (in the more conventional sense). I do, very sincerely, respect other people's beliefs, however orthodox or UN-orthodox, and I greatly enjoyed reading the way someone so totally unlikely to write about a spiritual journey nonetheless found herself on one when she became sober.
I was very moved, and actually envious of the comfort Lamott's faith has given her life. Not only has her spiritual awakening played a role in controlling her alcoholism, but it has lead her to a Christianity more resonant of the teachings of Christ than is true of many more "traditional" spiritual authors.
However, this book may in many ways appeal more to those who are TOLERANT than those who might find the word "faithful" as the first on their tongue to describe themselves. Even the deeply skeptical, or the totally without faith will enjoy this book if they are "tolerant", because it is about the faith of someone so unlike those one generally finds writing about spirituality. This fact also makes the book a great deal more interesting than one might expect of a text about a spiritual journey (for those who aren't wild about that sort of literature in general), because you get to see how Lamott sustains her faith despite a mind with little of the "obedient" nature one generally associates with religious fervor. This is particularly true for those of us who see the word "religious" and think more of Pat Robertson and the Religious Right than somebody we might like to talk with at dinner.
I read this book maybe a year ago, and was shocked to see it now on the best seller list, since it's really quite liberal, and is not the sort of book I would expect to appeal to a wide range of Americans, given the fact that so many people voted in primaries for the son of George Bush--a man for whom Annie Lamott has never had a good word (to put it MILDLY! ).
Anne Lamott writes for Salon.com, and is not your average American by a longshot. She's got an incisive mind, she is witty and articulate, but she is also wildly opinionated (in a way I find attractive), and so liberal that most right wing "Christians" (as opposed to Methodists or Episcopalians or Roman Catholics)will run in the other direction should they pick up this book by accident-- These are probably the people responsible for most of the one star reviews of this book.
For the rest of the reading public, however, this is a taste of Annie Lamott at ALMOST her best--(I do think that "Operating Instructions" is even better, but so few books in my life have been capable of making me laugh OUT LOUD in the New York City subway system during rush hour, that it may be the funniest book about motherhood on the planet--and motherhood is its own unique kind of spiritual journey.)
It is also true that this book is about religious faith--the sincerity of this woman's vision of God is very touching for those of us willing to admit more than one concept to the way in which God is defined. It's somewhat disturbing to read reviews on this page where the way Lamott talks about God is considered offensive--this book is definitely NOT for those into dogma, fundamentalism or thought control.
It is however, a delight for those of us who have not entirely lost the idealism of a generation much maligned by the numbers of its members who have become so conservative with age that they view their younger selves as the enemy--if that's you, avoid this book like the plague, because there's lots of things here that will offend you. And for those who find reading about one person's spiritual life interesting--a fairly self-destructive person whose faith has enabled her to cope without flipping her out into a person who believes her way is the only way--the book is an incredibly enjoyable, irreverant and sincere journey documenting her less than well-traveled path.
Rating: 3
Summary: Self-centered to the core
Comment: There are some great stories in this book but for the most part it is a testament to the author's complete self-centeredness.
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Title: Bird by Bird : Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott ISBN: 0385480016 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 September, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year by Anne Lamott ISBN: 044990928X Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 12 April, 1994 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Hard Laughter : A Novel by Anne Lamott ISBN: 0865472807 Publisher: North Point Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 1979 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott ISBN: 1573223425 Publisher: Riverhead Books Pub. Date: 02 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Crooked Little Heart : A Novel by Anne Lamott ISBN: 0385491808 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 18 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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