Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers
Anne Lamott
Category: Nonfiction:
Faith
Synopsis: Lamott
discusses her three go-to prayers.
Date finished: 27
September 2013
Rating: ***½
Comments:
God bless Anne Lamott. I love her dearly. Even when I
disagree with her. And even when she spews venomous hatred at the Bush
administration and anyone else right of center (or perhaps, right of far left).
A personal story. I’ve spent time with Anne Lamott. I
introduced her at a reading she did as a part of my college’s Forum and Artist
Series in the spring of 1998. Her Traveling
Mercies was about to be released. We stood backstage, waiting for our cue,
and she was infinitely more nervous than I was. She showed me pictures of her son, Sam (who is now a father),
and gave me a mint. (I still have the wrapper.) She sat down and signed each
and every book I brought with me, and she obligingly inscribed my program from
that night, “Bird by Bird…Anne Lamott.” A year or so later I went to a reading
she gave in the Twin Cities area, and she remembered me and my name. This graciousness is how authors create life-long
fans. Because I’ve since read every (non-fiction) book she’s released—including
those full of aforementioned venomous spews.
So, I feel like Anne and I have some history. I’ve read
about her faith evolving over the years. And mine has evolved in another
direction.
This book is full of Anne’s sense of humor and neurosis. She
passes on wisdom and wisecracks from her friends of various faith backgrounds.
It’s a short book that focuses on petitionary prayer (Help), prayer of
thanksgiving (Thanks), and prayers of awe (Wow), plus thoughts on Amen.
Is it as good as her full-length books on faith? In my
opinion, no. There was something missing here.
Did I agree with what she posited about prayer? Not always,
but my faith is not mainstream.
What I know is this: we pray from where we are. Anne’s treatise
is not my treatise. And that’s fine. You take what you can from a book like
this. And I thank Anne for writing it.
Would you recommend
this to a friend?
Might be a nice gift book for a struggling friend.
You might also enjoy:
Any of Lamott’s other books on faith:Traveling Mercies
Plan B
Grace (Eventually)
and the companion book to this one (out Oct. 29):
Stitches
No comments:
Post a Comment