Nightwatch: An Inquiry Into Solitude; Alone on the Prairie with the Hutterites [Paperback]

Robert Rhodes (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With a lyric sensibility and journalist's eye, Rhodes documents the six years that he and his family spent in a Hutterite colony in Minnesota , a place that some of his friends called a religious Alcatraz. A chronicle of his existential journey from privileged son of the South and agnostic writer to member of a communal religious sect that opposes war, this is no titillating exposé or angry account from a disillusioned exile. While Rhodes and his wife and three children ultimately left the colony because of internal conflicts and concern for their daughters' circumscribed futures, the author manages to find a voice that is equal parts critical and compassionate. He and his family learned what it was like to be strangers among strangers, he writes, adding, It was not always a bad kind of loneliness. Rhodes at times reveals less than readers might desire (for example, what drew him and his family to the Hutterites other than a vague sense of looking for something new in our lives); still, his unaffected spirituality, historical acumen and prairie-studded prose make a lovely and moving read. (Aug.)
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About the Author

Robert Rhodes is a Good Books author.

Product Details

• Paperback: 202 pages
• Publisher: Good Books; 1 edition (June 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561486663
• ISBN-13: 978-1561486663
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #901,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Other Denominations & Sects
  • #75 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Other Denominations & Sects

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars nightwatch, October 30, 2009

By 

J. Somers Matthews (little rock, ar) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nightwatch: An Inquiry Into Solitude; Alone on the Prairie with the Hutterites (Paperback)

well written, thoughtful, and studied; a book like i would like to write someday. despite the grace and grit of living mr. rhodes' life, it is a casual and fascinating intellectual romp through most everything i find worthwhile in life. it reads like a fine southern episcopal sermon; filled with respect, insight, and understated highbrow commentary. he communicates well the opening merton quotation, "mercy within mercy within mercy."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evocative and emotive!, October 24, 2009

By 

Michael L. Harris "Eben Eser Hof" (Ohio) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nightwatch: An Inquiry Into Solitude; Alone on the Prairie with the Hutterites (Paperback)

This book is written by an acquaintance who lived in a colony close to the colony where we lived (Elmendorf). This book is so evocative and can make me so homesick for the prairies of Minnesota. His description of Hutterite life is lively, kind, and empathetic. And his constant descriptiveness of Minnesota winters can give me a certain kind of longing. In short, I resonate with this book very strongly and have experienced much the same. Robert Rhodes does a good job of describing the emotional bond ...even down to his describing walking around the colony before moving to memorize every detail. He puts into words what is on my heart at times as well. In short, I enjoyed it very much and it will probably be one book I will pick up time and again to enjoy!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging contrasts, November 7, 2009

By 

John J. Smith (Goshen IN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nightwatch: An Inquiry Into Solitude; Alone on the Prairie with the Hutterites (Paperback)

I read R. Rhodes' Nightwatch and Rhoda Janzen's Mennonite in a Little Black Dress in the same week. What a contrast! Both books engaged me, but for very different reasons, of course. Rhodes' search for God and a countercultural community invited me to reinvigorate my own search, which lately has been retarded by complacency. Janzen's humorous and genuine responses to a series of personal tragedies also made me rethink my 70 years as a birthright Mennonite, especially because her sypmathetic, yet fun-making generalizations of my generation of Mennonites fit me almost as well as her parents.