Forgiveness: Following Jesus Into Radical Loving [Hardcover]

Paula Huston (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: Paraclete Press (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557255709
• ISBN-13: 978-1557255709
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #783,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

(Author Photograph by Dennis Eamon Young). Paula Huston, the eldest of five children, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1952. Her Norwegian Lutheran family moved to California when she was only two; she grew up in Long Beach, married at nineteen, and relocated to San Luis Obispo county on the Central Coast in her early twenties. About the time her children, Andrea and John, were born, she began writing short stories; in her early thirties, she divorced and spent several years as a single working mother, which convinced her that she really needed to complete her college education. After remarrying and becoming a stepmother to Kelly and Greta, she returned to school for a B.A. in English, and went on for a Masters in English and American Literature while continuing to write and publish fiction.

She began teaching at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo after completing the Master's degree. While still matriculating, she took a class in ethics that helped spur a return to the Christianity she had abandoned years before. This time, however, she came back to the church as a Catholic, and in the process, shifted to writing spiritual non-fiction. Eventually, she became a Camaldolese Benedictine oblate, a lay associate of a contemplative Catholic hermitage on the Big Sur coast, which means she does her best to live by two ancient rules written primarily for monks and hermits: the Rule of St. Benedict and the Brief Rule of St. Romuald of Ravenna, Italian founder of the Camaldolese. For many years, she and her husband Mike have lived on four acres in the country where, in the spirit of St. Benedict, they produce much of the food they eat, including fruits, vegetables, olive oil, eggs, honey, and wine. She has two small and beloved grandsons, and is currently anticipating the birth of yet another little boy this fall.

Huston is the author of four books and a co-editor and contributing essayist for a fifth, SIGNATURES OF GRACE: CATHOLIC WRITERS ON THE SACRAMENTS. Her essays and short stories have appeared in numerous literary journals and magazines over the years, including AMERICAN SHORT FICTION, STORY, NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW, IMAGE, AMERICA, THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY, and GEEZ. She is a National Endowment of the Arts Fellow in Creative Writing, and a founder and faculty member for a low-residency California State University Consortium Master of Fine Arts program in fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry. Her work has been honored several times by BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES and will appear in BEST SPIRITUAL WRITING OF 2010. She has taught at the Glen Workshop at St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is a frequent retreat leader and speaker at churches and campuses around the country.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally: Someone explains how it's done, February 4, 2009

By 

Mary Cichy (Granger, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forgiveness: Following Jesus Into Radical Loving (Hardcover)

I loved this book. Huston clearly explains the psychology of forgiveness, understands the human struggle behind it, and offers a clear way for healing the most intractable heart.

I often have to force myself to read books that are either spiritual or "self-help" in nature. This one is both, but written so lucidly and engagingly, I found myself unable to put it down--and then wanted to read it again as soon as I had finished.
Forgiveness: Following Jesus Into Radical Loving