Sunday, February 23, 2014

A Prayer Journal, by Flannery O'Connor (reviewed by Terry Taylor)

With this entry we introduce a new monthly service from Spirituality U. at Interfaith Paths to Peace)

A Prayer Journal by Flannery O’Connor
The One Minute Book Review from Spirituality U.

Sponsored by Carmichaels Bookstore, Louisville, Kentucky

The most memorable thing about this book is that there’s nothing particularly memorable about it. But that’s a compliment not a criticism.

What is most spiritually eloquent about this tiny volume is the verbal ineloquence of one of the 20th Century’s most eloquent writers. The covers of this book enclose just 40 pages of printed text followed by a facsimile of Flannery O’Connor’s handwritten journal, kept when she was in her early twenties and a student at the University of Iowa’s renowned writers program.

The insights are not particularly insightful; the wording not well wrought. But in those facts lie the brilliance of her writing—and the hope for the rest of us. For, here we see that one of the last century’s most celebrated writers is just as clumsy, just as confused, just as awkward as the rest of us. At least when she tries to speak to God. Grab a copy and read it. It will only take an hour so. Well worth the time.




A Prayer Journal, by Flannery O’Connor.
2014, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York.

Support local merchants; buy this book at Carmichaels!

From our friends at Carmichaels:

On Sunday, March 9th at 4 PM (at our Frankfort Ave store), Carmichael's Bookstore and Interfaith Paths to Peace welcome activist, author, and organizer Penny Rosenwasser for a discussion of her new book "Hope into Practice : Jewish Women Choosing Justice Despite our Fears." Anchored in Jewish ethical tradition, community-building, and an activist's call to repair the world and end racism, "Hope into Practice" asks Jewish women for the courage to love ourselves enough to face our fears without acting on them - to free ourselves of internalized anti-Semitism, expanding our sense of possibility, empowering our activism. We hope you'll be able to join us!