Grace (Eventually) Thoughts on Faith * Lamott CDs NEW

From Booklist.

Lamott's third collection of funny, smart, and prayerful essays-to-live-by contains just what readers expect from this nimble and candid writer: the unexpected. Sure, Lamott writes, as she always does, about her son, Sam, now 17. And yes, she continues to shift through the psychic rubble of her bad drinking and drug days, searching for shards of wisdom and bright bits of sustaining humor. But the particulars are always startling and provocative because, like all artists, Lamott can riff inventively on the most commonplace themes. She presents finely crafted homilies about binging and aging, and recounts episodes of despair, craziness, fear, guilt, and grief, followed by out-of-the-blue rescues. An advocate for kindness, reflection, and the ongoing effort to do the right thing, Lamott can be downright rancorous and self-absorbed, just like everyone else. And for all her attachment to her church community, she thinks for herself, and believes deeply in freedom. Consequently, she speaks out for women's reproductive rights, and helps a terminally ill friend die. Irreverently reverent, Lamott is resplendent in "Steinbeck Country," a beacon-in-the-dark essay about the importance of public libraries in which she praises librarians as "healers and magicians." Lamott also performs these essential roles, and readers do feel better for it.