Looking for Mary: (Or, the Blessed Mother and Me) (Compass) [Paperback]

Beverly Donofrio (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 1, 2001 | Series: Compass

Entering her fortieth year, Beverly Donofrio, a "lapsed Catholic," inexplicably begins collecting Virgin Mary memorabilia at yard sales. Her search for kitsch, however, soon becomes a spiritual quest, leading her to make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Medjugorje. There, she learns that Mary comes into your life only when pride steps out and receives a bonus: hope. In Looking for Mary, Donofrio offers the universal story about a woman who-in a quest for the Blessed Mother-finds herself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stereotypes abound concerning pilgrims to the Bosnian village of Medjugorje (where the Virgin Mary has allegedly been appearing since 1981), who claim to witness all manner of miracles: spinning suns, medals of the Virgin turning to gold, Mary herself scurrying down a street in a gray gown. Donofrio's new book, which took shape as a series on National Public Radio, explodes these stereotypes. It begins when, against all logic, the author begins flooding her home with images of the Virgin. Donofrio follows a hunch by going to Medjugorje, as a writer rather than a devotee, but that pretense quickly dissolves. She becomes a believer, though not in any cookie-cutter, uncritical sense. Listening to a stern Franciscan berate pilgrims in Medjugorje, she says, "I do not want to be a crazy, sign-seeing, rose-smelling, rigid, right-to-life Catholic"Dand though she sees signs and smells roses before long, she avoids both insanity and rigidity. Donofrio forges her own relationship with Mary, expressed partly through the institutional Catholic Church and partly despite and around it. While the crises in her own lifeDa troubled relationship with her son, a series of failed love affairs and unresolved ambiguities about an abortionDpropel Donofrio's quest, this chronicle does not read like an exercise in wish-fulfillment. It feels rather like the story of a woman who, after decades of seeking, found her mother, and through her, discovered herself. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This is the second book by Donofrio, who gained recognition with her popular Riding in Cars with Boys: Confessions of a Bad Girl Who Makes Good, which is currently being made into a feature film. Here Donofrio continues to utilize her autobiographical writing style, this time describing a spiritual path. Donofrio chronicles an outer journey that began with an irreligious interest in collecting statues of the Virgin Mary and continued as she visits many American locations where Mary has allegedly been sighted. Her curiosity eventually provoked her to travel to the famed Bosnian city of Medjugorje. All these experiences paralleled a more profound inner journey of spiritual transformation. Deeply personal and wonderfully written, this book invites the reader to confront skeptical attitudes about religion, religious practices, and religious dogmas and step into the divine light. All this from a most unlikely prophet. Recommended for public libraries.DJohn-Leonard Berg, Univ. of Wisconsin, Platteville
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books; Reissue edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140196277
• ISBN-13: 978-0140196276
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.5 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #454,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Donofrio's book is a Godsend October 16, 2000

By Nancy Rainey

Format:Hardcover

I love when God sends us unlikely teachers. Beverly Donofrio is to renewed adult Catholic faith as Anne Lamott is to renewed adult Protestant faith. Both are women with pasts who have worked through them to ask for forgiveness. I LOVED this book. I am at a place where I am coming back to God after a 10 year absence. When we baby boomers rejected our Catholic faith it was for the very same reasons Donofrio did: birth control, a woman's right to chooses, and the antiquated patriarchal hierarchy of THE CHURCH. But organized religion and faith are two different things. By tossing out the perceived bad, we unfortunately threw the baby out with the bath water. There are so many positive aspects to Catholicism. Donofrio reminds us that one of those pluses is Jesus' mother, Mary. I was truly moved by this book. And it has accelerated my own walk of faith back to the Catholic church. Having women who decry the unfairness of some aspects of the Catholic Church as members of the church is not a bad thing. It's like having liberals in the Republican party. Donofrio has given us an important work. Perhaps she will start a revolution of sorts. Millions of baby boomers praying the rosary. (I just ordered one.) Mary is also a comfort to the many women who are victims of male abuse who have trouble with the image of father as God. Mary is the mother we all need; the mother we want to be. Thanks Beverly for reminding us.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars inspiring on so many levels! July 12, 2002

By Margaret Bingham

Format:Paperback

If you are Catholic and struggling, read this book! If you are a woman, a mother and struggling, read this book! If you need inspiration or faith, read this book!

What a wonderful read! I found this book accidently and Beverly would suggest that maybe I was led to it. I wouldn't argue with her.

Between the de-emphasis on Mary in the current US Catholic Church and the criticism of my Prostestant friends, I had lost a commitment to Mary. The rosary was passe and praying to her constituted icon worship. Though I am still grappling with the likelihood of the Assumption, Beverly's experiences have opened my heart to the love and support that Mary can provide. The Hail Mary is again tripping off my tongue.

Beverly speaks directly from her heart into the reader's with a voice that is real and powerful.

Yes, I believe Mary has a job for Beverly and it has started beautifully with this book.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for every ex-Catholic baby boomer August 30, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Some Catholic purists will be horrified by this book. Beverly Donofrio is a hardcore unbeliever who finds herself irresistably drawn to the Blessed Mother. Understandably, after thirty-five years as an atheist, Donofrio still carries a lot of residual baby boomer baggage - irritation with the Church's political incorrectness, an obsession with religious superficialities, and some rather heretical ideas, such as her notion that Catholics "worship" Mary (won't the Protestants have a field day with that!) not to mention a teensy propensity to narcissism, even in repentance.

Nevertheless, I believe this little book is a miracle. This book is a message from Mary to every baby boomer who left the Church during the sixties and seventies. So what if Mary's messenger is not perfect? That is precisely why she is the perfect messenger for us, the hardcore feminists, the yuppies blinded by ambition, the New Agers toying with spirituality, the hardhearted unbelievers who think religious people are crazy fools. This book will work. Before the year 2000 is over, this book will touch the hearts of thousands of people, the very people who least expect it, all over the United States and beyond. It will inspire prayer in people who normally scoff at prayer. It will work because Mary is, as Donofrio has learned, a woman who gets her way.