Face to Face: Women Writers on Faith, Mysticism, and Awakening [Hardcover]

Linda Hogan (Editor), Brenda Peterson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 18, 2004

From the editors of the Sweet Breathing of Plants, a new anthology of women's writing on faith and spirituality

From the vantage points of diverse backgrounds and beliefs, the writings gathered here describe a vast range of spiritual searches and encounters. Sy Montgomery writes about shamans, Terry Tempest Williams about her Mormon heritage, and Starhawk about witchcraft. Mary Gordon captures the attractions of the contemplative life. Ursula Le Guin speaks about the feminine aspects of the Tao te Ching. Jane Goodall reflects on the symbiosis of science and religion after experiencing an ecstatic loss of self in the company of chimpanzees. Facet by facet, these essays and poems--by Molly Peacock, Anne Sexton, Kathleen Norris, Diane Ackerman, and Joy Harjo, among others--reveal and celebrate the special relationship of women to the spiritual realm in a volume that will comfort, provoke, and inspire.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From Judith Roche's poem about angels to Mohja Kahf's reflections on growing up Muslim in Indiana and New Jersey, this collection on feminine spirituality is eloquent, elegant and satisfyingly multicultural. Established literary luminaries, like Mary Gordon, are found alongside more obscure but equally skilled writers like Suzanne Edison. As in the editors' previous anthology, The Sweet Breathing of Plants, many of the pieces gathered here connect the natural and spiritual worlds. (This is perhaps best exemplified by the excerpt from Terry Tempest Williams's Refuge, which draws together reflections on Mormonism and the Great Salt Lake, and by the short, astounding "Epiphany," in which the late poet Pem Kremer writes, "she saw You once as prairie grass.... She says when she can't pray/She calls up prairie grass.") The volume also seeks the spiritual in the everyday: Susan Biskeborn grounds her reflections on God in conversations held with her toddler daughter, while Catherine Johnson has an epiphany at a Parisian metro stop. A final section on "Practicing" shows women investigating spiritual disciplines as diverse as Quaker silence and Wiccan craft rituals. The collection is tarnished by the predictable, but nonetheless disappointing, under-representation of women representing more conservative religious communities—evangelical Protestantism, Orthodox Judaism, etc. Even so, readers hungry for feminine spirituality investigated with literary flair will find a feast.
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Review

Praise for The Sweet Breathing of Plants:

"Lush . . . Every entry in this collection is worthy . . . Readers should read it slowly and savor it, put it aside and look around with a new awakening." -- The Dallas Morning News

"Eye-opening."--O, The Oprah Magazine

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: North Point Press (August 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 086547558X
• ISBN-13: 978-0865475588
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,086,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lifetime Favorite, February 10, 2008

By 

Judith Cassidy (USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Face to Face: Women Writers on Faith, Mysticism, and Awakening (Hardcover)

This book, these authors, speak to my heart about life experiences that address what matters most to me. I have purchased one for my closest friends and my children. I read the articles again and again; return to them for sustenance, spiritual medicine. I recommend this book to anyone who seeks to articulate what is most alive in them.Face to Face: Women Writers on Faith, Mysticism, and Awakening

5.0 out of 5 stars Faith is a journey, April 28, 2011

By 

Wb Johnston (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Face to Face: Women Writers on Faith, Mysticism, and Awakening (Hardcover)

Wonderful survey of women from many different faith traditions - negotiating the trajectory between their inherited upbringing and their own spiritual reality.