Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew's Blog, page 19

Hannah, Delivered

Today's the last day of Koehler Book's $5 ebook sale! Get 'em while they're cheap!

Speaking of Faith

"I have become a crusader against insufficient questions and answers that stand in, prematurely and destructively, for both justice and mystery." This is Krista Tippett's concise statement of her life's work, and her memoir, SPEAKING OF FAITH, is a wild romp through an abundance of questions and exploratory answers. Tippett is a conversationalist extraordinaire; she's written a memoir that traces her faith journey in relationship to the Christian conservatism of her childhood, the cold war climate in Berlin where she was a journalist, and the hundreds of dialogues she's initiated over the years of hosting "Speaking of Faith." In other words, it's a faith story largely shaped by ideas. And so this book lacks the narrative drive and vivid scenes we often expect of memoirs. But for those of us searching to integrate our relationship with mystery into all dimensions of our lives--our political outlook, our religious discourse, our family dynamics, our life's work--Tippett's memoir is a beautiful, heartfelt, sweeping role model. I highly recommend it.


Erudite analyses, for all their merits, rarely take note of the power of a sense of belovedness as an antidote to fear.
--Krista Tippett, Speaking of Faith

Evolving in Monkey Town

I bought Rachel Held Evans's book because I was intrigued by the phenomenon of her blog, which attracts tens of thousands of readers and has made her a force in evangelical circles. Why? And how?

EVOLVING IN MONKEY TOWN holds the answer. Evans is a solid story-teller, her theology is thought-provoking, and she's clearly a likeable, faithful woman. Her memoir is a quick, clear, moving read--if you don't mind occasional Biblical exegesis. But what makes this book (and Evans herself) extraordinary, I imagine, is how it traces the path of an entire generation of evangelical Christians coming of age in the 1990s, into the extreme challenges that a globalized, internet-driven culture presents to people of faith. And Evans's faith survives, albeit changed. This is a story of resilience. I imagine Evans is so popular because she illustrates how rigid belief can transform into flexible, resilient, and enduring faith. And this is a story our culture needs.

"In the end, the same question that frightened and intimidated me as a child provided the clearest way out: What if I’m wrong? … To be wrong about God is the condition of humanity, for better or for worse. … In the end, it was doubt that saved my faith." --Rachel Held Evans

Unorthodox

UNORTHODOX is the memoir of a young woman raised in the Satmar sect of Hasidic Judaism, an ultra-conservative group living in Brooklyn. Feldman is gifted; she plunges the reader into a cult-like world and makes us desperate for air. The book's strengths--its suspense; the reader's need to see our beloved author escape--are also its weaknesses. Without a reflective narrator--indeed, without distance from these events to reflect--the story lacks insight.

I'm reluctant to call this a spiritual memoir since some of the book's central questions remain unanswered. What will be the author's relationship with God outside of her religion? What will her relationship to her body and to sexuality look like? What, after all, does freedom mean? These are the hazards of writing the story of your childhood when you're in your 20s--no perspective.

Nonetheless, as a story of escaping an oppressive faith tradition, UNORTHODOX is powerful. Many thanks to Feldman for this brave tale.

Delivering Hannah today!

I don’t understand how anyone, myself included, can create a dynamic story. Stories have a life all their own—their own wisdom, their own flaws, their own power. Today is launch day for Hannah, Delivered, and to celebrate I want to kneel down before the mystery that is story.

As you can imagine, I’ve been riding an emotional rollercoaster as I prepare to put a decade’s worth of effort into the public eye. One reader weeps, she’s so moved by the novel, and I’m elated. Another reader is furious about a mistake in the book, and I feel miserable. And so it goes, up and down, until I’m driving my family berserk.

When I’m having labor pains like this, my partner Emily sometimes asks me, “What would Hannah do?” The question makes me laugh, but it’s right on. Really she’s saying, “Consult something other than your mercurial feelings. What does the story say?” read more

Launch date approaching...

Thanks to all who registered to win a copy of HANNAH, DELIVERED! And congrats to Rachel from London, England, who will receive a free copy.

HANNAH releases May 1st, so she's now available for purchase in both soft cover and ebook. Enjoy!

Hannah, Delivered Giveaway

Hello, Goodreads bookworms! I'm pleased to announce the publication of my first novel, HANNAH, DELIVERED. I'm doing a Goodreads give-away right now: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1....

I'd love to send you a free, signed copy!Hannah, Delivered

Thank you!

A big thanks to the many people who entered the SWINGING ON THE GARDEN GATE give-away! After 14 years in print, I've just launched SWINGING as an ebook. For those of you who are interested, you can order either the soft cover or ebook at most online bookstores.

Swinging on the Garden Gate

Goodreads friends--today's the last day to register to win a free copy of SWINGING ON THE GARDEN GATE.

Swinging on the Garden Gate: A Spiritual Memoirhttps://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis

It's a bit eerie to find a spiritual memoir that describes so accurately the emptiness, lethargy, and dissonance I feel in my faith life these days. I've taken comfort from St. John of the Cross and called it a "dark night"; Lauren Winner calls it "the middle" of her faith journey. After converting from Judaism and writing a book about it, and after launching both a writing and academic career based on it, Winner is pretty audacious to admit she's bored with faith. And yet I believe her. Carol Bly calls revision the long middle stage of writing, and this stage in faith feels awfully--well, wretchedly--similar. Needless to say, I'm grateful to Winner for wrapping story around it. Christians need to give testimonials about emptiness as a facet of the Sacred. Otherwise the world assumes we're wearing blinders; otherwise we don't represent well the beloved paradoxical truth that is God.