From Publishers Weekly
"A life ago," Barr writes, "I was depressed, broke, homeless, unemployed and divorced." One evening she wandered into an Episcopal church, primarily because it was unlocked. Desperation, not interest in religion, had brought her there, but warmly accepting parishioners kept her, and soon she wanted to be confirmed. "I went to the priest and asked him if it would be okay considering I didn't accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior, didn't believe the Bible was divinely inspired and wasn't entirely sure about the whole God thing. Fortunately Father Andrew had been tending his flock long enough to recognize a lost lamb when one came bleating into his office and put no obstacles in my way." It was a turning point for Barr, who here describes the resulting changes in her life and thinking over the last six years. Readers of Barr's bestselling mystery series featuring park ranger Anna Pigeon might have hoped for a whole book full of enlightenment about Anna's creator. However, apart from the introduction and occasional anecdotes throughout, her first nonfiction work is more a collection of personal essays than spiritual memoir. In more than 40 short chapters, she looks at topics as varied as forgiveness, girlfriends, being ordinary, Halloween and of course hats, usually saying more about how she thinks life should be lived than about how she actually lives hers. Nevertheless, Barr's sassy style, self-deprecating sense of humor and trenchant observations make for a good-and, yes, enlightening-read.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
There is something about having survived a serious bout of clinical depression that causes a person to look inward in an effort to find meaning. For popular mystery writer Nevada Barr, author of the Anna Pigeon series, depression set off a chain of events that led her to embrace religion and spirituality. In these short essays, she charts the course of her spiritual evolution, how she sought to understand the many aspects of spiritual life, from forgiveness ("a sigh of relief on which the memory of evil is breathed out ") to pain ("it is a duty to relieve our own pain") to commitment ("not a contract with the world but with the self"). Barr's account of her transformation from nonbeliever to committed churchgoer--but one who maintains a healthy sense of doubt even as she prays and attends Bible studies--is moving but never saccharine. Her conclusion that one can believe in God (or any other higher being) and still live a life based on logic should appeal to other skeptics. Managing to be inspirational as well as practical, Barr finds in spirituality a way to get beyond self-centeredness: "It was a number of years of crashing and burning in the personal arena before I made the discovery that I was not God." Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
The Plain Dealer, June 22, 2003
There is much to be considered in her observations, in an engaging style that is a joy to read.
Book Description
The author of the New York Times-bestselling Anna Pigeon mystery series beckons her readers to share her spiritual search for meaning in life.
During her life as an actor, a writer, an adventuress, a non-believer, and a seeker of truth and amusement, Nevada Barr has been cursed and blessed with the question of "why?" Though the things she wanted to know were mostly in the realm of the unknowable, she sought answers through reading, thinking, and talking-looking outward for signs and truths. But she found that while her quest for meaning provided inspiration, it afforded little in the way of proof.
It was then that she began to look inward for answers. Seeking Enlightenment . . . Hat by Hat is the beguiling story of her journey from arrogance and atheism toward humility and a sense of being part of something greater than herself. Hat by hat, step by step, Nevada Barr leads readers down her path to enlightenment by sharing personal episodes, some of them funny and revealing, others painfully honest. Each chapter offers a truth or an answer forged through experience and deep reflection, and a nugget of insight certain to encourage thought and discussion among readers who may, in turn, find their own spiritual language.
About the Author
Nevada Barr is the author of eleven Anna Pigeon novels, including the recent bestsellers Flashback and Hunting Season.
Seeking Enlightenment....Hat by Hat FROM THE CRITICS
The Washington Post
As Barr puts it, "I more or less ran into God at the bottom of a barrel." In this quirky memoir, we follow her into church, along the way learning her thoughts on younger men, Halloween and kittens, not to mention salvation and forgiveness and gratitude. — Lauren F. Winner
Plain Dealer
There is much to be considered in her observations, in an engaging style that is a joy to read.
Publishers Weekly
"A life ago," Barr writes, "I was depressed, broke, homeless, unemployed and divorced." One evening she wandered into an Episcopal church, primarily because it was unlocked. Desperation, not interest in religion, had brought her there, but warmly accepting parishioners kept her, and soon she wanted to be confirmed. "I went to the priest and asked him if it would be okay considering I didn't accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior, didn't believe the Bible was divinely inspired and wasn't entirely sure about the whole God thing. Fortunately Father Andrew had been tending his flock long enough to recognize a lost lamb when one came bleating into his office and put no obstacles in my way." It was a turning point for Barr, who here describes the resulting changes in her life and thinking over the last six years. Readers of Barr's bestselling mystery series featuring park ranger Anna Pigeon might have hoped for a whole book full of enlightenment about Anna's creator. However, apart from the introduction and occasional anecdotes throughout, her first nonfiction work is more a collection of personal essays than spiritual memoir. In more than 40 short chapters, she looks at topics as varied as forgiveness, girlfriends, being ordinary, Halloween and of course hats, usually saying more about how she thinks life should be lived than about how she actually lives hers. Nevertheless, Barr's sassy style, self-deprecating sense of humor and trenchant observations make for a good-and, yes, enlightening-read. (June) Forecast: Barr's 11th Anna Pigeon mystery was published earlier this year and has been a PW and New York Times bestseller. This memoirish spirituality title should ensure that the multi-talented writer Barr will never be, well, pigeonholed solely in the mystery category. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Reading the book jacket, one might well think, "Oh, great, another celebrity's version of a spiritual awakening where she discovered that we shouldn't cut down a tree because it might be the embodiment of dear, departed Aunt Martha." Read on. Barr, best known as the author of 11 mysteries (e.g., Deep South), has apparently experienced a true journey from atheism to faith. Barr grew up in a family with a disdain for organized religion that she carried into adulthood; subsequently, she survived a terrible marriage, an unpleasant divorce, and mental illness. Happily remarried, Barr now lives in Mississippi and attends an Episcopal Church simply because when she was at rock bottom she walked into one conveniently close by. "Had the Elks been meeting on the block that night and accidentally left their door unlocked, I expect my life would have taken a very different direction." This volume is a collection of more than 40 essays on a variety of topics that delineate Barr's still-ongoing faith journey. (One explains the "hat by hat" reference.) She now chooses to believe in God because it seems to make sense, and the ritual and traditions of the Episcopal Church provide a feeling of community. Recommended for all public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/03.]-Mary Prokop, Savannah Country Day Sch., GA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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