Kathleen Norris

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born

July 27, 1947 in Washington, DC, The United States

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About this author

Kathleen Norris was born on July 27, 1947 in Washington, D.C. She grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, as well as on her maternal grandparents’ farm in Lemmon, South Dakota.

Her sheltered upbringing left her unprepared for the world she encountered when she began attending Bennington College in Vermont. At first shocked by the unconventionality surrounding her, Norris took refuge in poetry.

After she graduated in 1969, she moved to New York City where she joined the arts scene, associated with members of the avant-garde movement including Andy Warhol, and worked for the American Academy of Poets.

In 1974, her grandmother died leaving Norris the family farm in South Dakota, and she and her future husband, the poet David Dwyer, decided to temporarily...more

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Books by Kathleen Norris

Average rating: 3.99 · 6,838 ratings · 828 reviews · 45 distinct works

	The Cloister Walk 4.03 avg rating — 2,406 ratings — published 1963 — 15 editions	My rating:
	Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith 4.09 avg rating — 1,509 ratings — published 1998 — 13 editions	My rating:
	Dakota: A Spiritual Geography 4.03 avg rating — 1,298 ratings — published 1993 — 5 editions	My rating:
	Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life 3.66 avg rating — 685 ratings — published 2008 — 11 editions	My rating:
	The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and Woman's "Work" 4.25 avg rating — 276 ratings — published 1998	My rating:
	The Virgin of Bennington 3.35 avg rating — 193 ratings — published 2001 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Little Girls In Church 3.80 avg rating — 102 ratings — published 1995 — 2 editions	My rating:
	The Best American Essays 2001 by Kathleen Norris (Editor), Robert Atwan (Series Editor) 3.84 avg rating — 55 ratings — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Holy Twins by Kathleen Norris, Tomie dePaola (Illustrator) 4.09 avg rating — 47 ratings — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Psalms 3.62 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 1997	My rating:

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Quotes by Kathleen Norris

“Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine.”
― Kathleen Norris

tags: inspirational-prayer

69 people liked it

“If grace is so wonderful, why do we have such difficulty recognizing and accepting it? Maybe it's because grace is not gentle or made-to-order. It often comes disguised as loss, or failure, or unwelcome change.”
― Kathleen Norris

tags: wisdom-grace

57 people liked it

“When I was a child, it was a matter of pride that I could plow through a Nancy Drew story in one afternoon, and begin another in the evening. . . . I was probably trying to impress the librarians who kept me supplied with books.”
― Kathleen Norris

tags: library , reading

20 people liked it

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Polls

The following are a selection of books written by the FAVORITE AUTHORS of some of our group members...which do you want as an option for the Group Read for the Spring 2010 challenge?

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

80 votes, 26.4%

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

53 votes, 17.5%

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

49 votes, 16.2%

Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde

29 votes, 9.6%

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

27 votes, 8.9%

The Paris Vendetta: A Novel by Steve Berry

17 votes, 5.6%

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings

14 votes, 4.6%

Songmaster by Orson Scott Card

14 votes, 4.6%

The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris

11 votes, 3.6%

Frederica by Georgette Heyer

9 votes, 3.0%

303 total votes

4 comments

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Novel Ladies: Author Alphabet	566	33	Aug 25, 2010 08:22pm
Book Nook Cafe: Lying Awake - April 2011	161	33	Apr 24, 2011 01:49pm
Wi-Minn-Dak-Ia: The Bones of Plenty - ND	2	5	Aug 28, 2011 08:17pm
Around the World ...: South Dakota	2	10	Sep 01, 2011 03:55pm
Book Nook Cafe: * Mikela's Determination List 2012	44	39	Jan 09, 2012 07:16am
A 2012 Challenge:...: Gaeta's List	72	77	May 12, 2012 11:21am
Book Nook Cafe: In This House of Brede ~ May 2012	151	28	May 26, 2012 07:36am
A 2012 Challenge:...: * Where in the World Are You?!?! (Currently Reading)	1135	336	22 hours, 28 min ago

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