(...) This book took me a while to get through because I constantly was rereading various chapters to friends and family members, so once I finally finished it, I had literally read some of the essays 3 or 4 times. Maybe that's what added to the time spent on it.
Sedaris is a very talented writer, and while the critics comments on the back of the book may be a bit over the top ("wildly entertaining" seems a little too complimentary for a book of essays, even if they are hilarious at times--when I think of "wildly entertaining," I think of other things...not reading something that's very funny). All that said and done, most people free enough to think and relate to what it being human… Read more
In "Girl Meets God," (a title I'm convinced the author did NOT come up with, and is not really fitting to the book---perhaps the cover should change designs too) Lauren Winner does some pretty incredible things. She manages to tap into C.S. Lewis-like intellectual thought, write like Anne Lamott, think like a Cambridge graduate student and still comes across as being smart enough and human enough, to live out Jesus' loving call. Anybody interested in Jewish tradition will be fascinated (like I was) by how much this tradition aids in the Judeo-Christian beliefs.
Not only do I admire Winner for such a provocative, insightful, and honest memoir, I also respect her for writing… Read more
Easily a book you could read in a day or less, "I TELL YOU A MYSTERY" offers real human stories and insights into life and death. It sounds like a downer of a book, but it actually filled me with much more hope than I thought it would. I will remember a few of these stories forever, no doubt, and I'm sure they will help me in my own journey, when I begin to lose those closest to me.
