A forthright tale of pain and healing.
A journey home.
From the time she was a child and saw the movie The Nun’s Story, the author longed to become a nun, to be part of a close community dedicated to God and good works. Although her mother wasn’t a churchgoer, with her religious grandmother, she attended a Baptist congregation—a “serene, sweet place” compared to her chaotic and abusive home. In her candid debut memoir, Claudette Powell, now Sister Monica Clare, recounts growing up in poverty and fear. Her father, addicted to amphetamines, erupted in violent rages, beating her mother and threatening to kill her. The family moved frequently, and the young Claudette felt like an outsider in every new school—as well as from the Southern expectations of womanhood. She felt pressed into an ill-fitting image to be “beautiful, smart, obedient and then have a job, a husband, and children.” She wanted to serve God. Even in college (she got a partial scholarship to New York University), even as she became a standup comic and performed with an improv group, even working in New York and Los Angeles, she followed a secret spiritual path, praying, reading the Bible, and sneaking off to church. A dismal marriage to a cold, narcissistic man made her desperately unhappy, but for years she felt unable to extricate herself. Finally, she managed to turn her life around: In 2000 she was confirmed in the Episcopal Church and, in 2012, was received as a postulant at the Community of St. John Baptist. As Sister Monica, she was challenged by rules, traditions, and unspoken codes of behavior; being evaluated every six months stirred up deep feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. Her memoir is a testimony of both her steadfast commitment to God and her long, hard struggle to conquer her own demons.
A forthright tale of pain and healing.Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9780593727119
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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
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