A well-meaning, resonant set of biographical profiles that will inspire religiously inclined readers.
A colloquial look at six European female Christian mystics and their teachings.
Evans, the spirituality and culture editor at the National Catholic Reporter and author of Feminist Prayers for My Daughter, dedicates her latest to “every woman whose story merited an examination it never received.” She focuses on the lives and work of six women—Teresa of Avila, Margery Kempe, Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Catherine of Siena—five of whom were nuns, and all of whom Evans describes as “unapologetically themselves” and “more than able to lead.” The chapters—bearing titles such as “All the Best Prophets Were Mentally Ill,” “Trusting Yourself Doesn’t Make You a Heretic,” and “The World Is Burning: Why Make Art?”—end with questions “for prayer and reflection.” For example, “Do you feel comfortable viewing your soul as a place for light?”; “If you were a flower, which one would you be? How do you feel about that flower?” The author often shares from her own life, including her journey of leaving evangelicalism and conversion to Catholicism, as well as what she views as the most prescient lessons from and summations of each of her subjects. Of Thérèse, Evans writes, “This chick was a feminist if ever there was one.” In the chapter about Hildegard, she notes, “arguably her best-known spiritual principle is the idea of the earth as a sacred mirror reflecting our internal reality.” The author’s impassioned, often quippy, always forthright tone makes for a quick read. “Each of us has a mystic within us,” she writes, “waiting to be unlocked.” Despite the text’s lack of racial representation, the author calls women of color “the prophets of our modern age” before closing with lines from an Alice Walker poem.
A well-meaning, resonant set of biographical profiles that will inspire religiously inclined readers.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780593727270
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Convergent
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Buffs of the Old West will enjoy Clavin’s careful research and vivid writing.
Rootin’-tootin’ history of the dry-gulchers, horn-swogglers, and outright killers who populated the Wild West’s wildest city in the late 19th century.
The stories of Wyatt Earp and company, the shootout at the O.K. Corral, and Geronimo and the Apache Wars are all well known. Clavin, who has written books on Dodge City and Wild Bill Hickok, delivers a solid narrative that usefully links significant events—making allies of white enemies, for instance, in facing down the Apache threat, rustling from Mexico, and other ethnically charged circumstances. The author is a touch revisionist, in the modern fashion, in noting that the Earps and Clantons weren’t as bloodthirsty as popular culture has made them out to be. For example, Wyatt and Bat Masterson “took the ‘peace’ in peace officer literally and knew that the way to tame the notorious town was not to outkill the bad guys but to intimidate them, sometimes with the help of a gun barrel to the skull.” Indeed, while some of the Clantons and some of the Earps died violently, most—Wyatt, Bat, Doc Holliday—died of cancer and other ailments, if only a few of old age. Clavin complicates the story by reminding readers that the Earps weren’t really the law in Tombstone and sometimes fell on the other side of the line and that the ordinary citizens of Tombstone and other famed Western venues valued order and peace and weren’t particularly keen on gunfighters and their mischief. Still, updating the old notion that the Earp myth is the American Iliad, the author is at his best when he delineates those fraught spasms of violence. “It is never a good sign for law-abiding citizens,” he writes at one high point, “to see Johnny Ringo rush into town, both him and his horse all in a lather.” Indeed not, even if Ringo wound up killing himself and law-abiding Tombstone faded into obscurity when the silver played out.
Buffs of the Old West will enjoy Clavin’s careful research and vivid writing.Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21458-4
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
