Do Not Go Gentle: My Search for Miracles in a Cynical Time [Paperback]

Ann Hood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2001

Ann Hood was firmly rooted in the physical world-- practical, realistic, and skeptical about many things in life at the cusp of the second millennium. Nonetheless, she traveled from Rhode Island to El Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico to bring home a miracle for her dying father. Ultimately, Ann Hood discovered the courage to accept what had come her way, and an appreciation for the faith in miracles. Do Not Go Gentle is a profound journey into the nature of miracles, and one woman's revelatory reflection upon her spiritual heritage.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This small book tells the story of the search for a miraculous cure, the death of a father and one woman's reconnection with her Catholic roots. Novelist Hood (Ruby; Somewhere off the Coast of Maine) became determined to find a miracle cure when her father was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. The product of generations of Italian-American Catholics, Hood followed her penchant for the mystical, leading her to look for signs, interpret dreams and wish for a magic potion. She traveled to Chimayo, N.Mex., where the Tewa Indians believe that the mud is curative and a chapel commemorates the healing miracles that have allegedly occurred there. Hood was looking for an incantation, for anything that would make the tumor vanish. This poignant memoir of grief is also a love story: "My father," Hood writes, "was the love of my life." She loved the way he whistled, the way he smiled, even the way he carried boxes of doughnuts. Unlike many young adults who give up their youthful adoration of Dear Old Dad, Hood only grew to cherish her father more as a grown-up. As she watched him die, Hood (who had become sophisticated, started attending Unitarian and Episcopal churches and even affected a bit of a New England accent) began to "reclaim [her] heritage" of faith and family. This memoir is every bit as breathtaking as the poem after which it is named. (Dec..-- heritage" of faith and family. This memoir is every bit as breathtaking as the poem after which it is named. (Dec.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Hood affectingly explores the link between faith and family ties . . . her spiritual quest to make sense of her father's fatal illness is rendered with exceptional grace."—Entertainment Weekly

"Do Not Go Gentle is a lively, gracefully written memoir, full of vivid descriptions of the beautiful places in which people have experienced miracles."
—Commonweal

"[Ann Hood] creates an entire world of belief and tradition that sustains her . . . the miracle that truly nurtures her is her art."—Providence Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Picador; 1st Picador USA Ppbk Ed/ 1st Print edition (November 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031228313X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312283131
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #905,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ann Hood is the author of the bestselling novels THE RED THREAD, THE KNITTING CIRCLE and SOMEWHERE OFF THE COAST OF MAINE. Her memoir, COMFORT: A JOURNEY THROUGH GRIEF, in which she shares her personal story of losing her 5 year old daughter Grace in 2002, was a New York Times Editor's Choice and named one of the top 10 non-fiction books of 2008. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Journey of Faith, February 1, 2001

By 

David Lupo "David Lupo" (Fairhaven, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Do Not Go Gentle: My Search for Miracles in a Cynical Time (Hardcover)

I met Ann Hood one November night at Baker Books in Dartmouth, MA, when she came to give a reading of "Do Not Go Gentle". It was enjoyable. As an Italian, I could identify with Mama Rose, and her methods to ward off the effects of "mal'occhio" (evil eye) for my grandmother did the same thing, only with drops of olive oil. Nonna passed away last April, but the memory lingers. As a religious priest, I could identify with her Catholicism, and I am sure the Franciscan brothers also present had much to share with her that evening in that regard. I regret that I didn't spend some time with her. After her dialogue with the Franciscans, I just stepped up, asked her to dedicate the brand new book to me, and left. I had not read the book yet. Feeling dumb, I did not pursue a conversation. I enjoyed the work. It reads smoothly, like a river. The text is not taxing to the reader, but is easy to follow, taking the reader to many places, stories and ideas. The story is the faith journey of a woman, who is trying to square the death of her father with her faith system. Faith is more than a packaged set of beliefs. Faith is that sometimes. Dogmatic faith. Other times faith is dynamic. Ann Hood's faith journey is to answer the question about how her father's death relates to her sense of meaning. And journey she does to many places, externally and internally. It is a human journey, maybe at times a little wrapped up in a sentiment, or in magic, or superstition. Still it is a human journey. And a theological journey, if we can remember that the classical definition of theology is "fides quarens intellectum" (faith seeking understanding). I finished the book hoping that she would at some point visit her Catholicism again. I am grateful for her portrait of Italian life. I like her sense of humor. I would have liked to read more about her mother. While I am taking basic Italian classes on Federal Hill every Saturday morning until June, I hope to run into her at Tony's, or Dolce Vita or Venda Ravioli. Now I have a few questions to raise. They would go well with some bruschetta and red wine.

4.0 out of 5 stars In Search of a Miracle, December 27, 2008

By 

Bibliophile By the Sea (US) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Do Not Go Gentle: My Search for Miracles in a Cynical Time (Paperback)

Author Ann Hood became determined to find a miracle cure when her father was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. She was the product of generations of Italian-American Catholics, and was determined to find some miracle to cure her father with whom she has a very special bond. She traveled to Chimayo, N.Mexico, where the Tewa Indians believe that the mud is curative and a chapel commemorates the healing miracles that have allegedly occurred there. She brought back the special mud for her father. Her father was willing to try anything, as he was not ready to accept his death sentence.

SPOILERS
This poignant memoir of grief is also a love story: "My father," Hood writes, "was the love of my life." She loved the way he whistled, the way he smiled, even the way he carried boxes of doughnuts. Unlike many young adults who give up their youthful adoration of Dear Old Dad, Hood only grew to cherish her father more as a grown-up, and as she watched him die.

I thought this book was very well done. I especially enjoyed the beautiful descriptions of various places where miracles were to have occurred. Having a family member who is very ill, I thought this was just the type of book, I might need right now. I was disappointed in the fact that the miracle Ann Hood so desperately wanted to find for her father, did not help to extend his life.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too personal, April 28, 2003

By 

Manola Sommerfeld (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Do Not Go Gentle: My Search for Miracles in a Cynical Time (Paperback)

I had a hard time extrapolating the author's experiences into a useful context. She is a talented writer, and her prose is easy to follow. But her accounts are a bit too personal, and at times i felt almost like i was reading her diary. I was most disappointed at the end, when her search for explanations to her father's death takes her around Europe. For one thing, how could she pretend to find answers for faith? What really killed me was the episode with the contact lens: "If you believe it is there, you will find it". I couldn't help but think about Kevin Costner: "If you build it, they will come".