A Room Called Remember: Uncollected Pieces [Paperback]

Frederick Buechner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 1992

A Room Called Remember brings together some of Buechner's finest writings on faith, love, and the power of words in the form of essays, addresses, and sermons. Here Buechner explores autobiography as theology, offers exhilarating reflections on biblical passages, and leads us into the "room called Remember," that "still room within us all where the past lives on as part of the present,...where with patience, with clarity, with quietness of heart, we remember consciously to remember the lives we have lived."

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Sermons, lectures, and articles by one of today's finest writers and preachers.

About the Author

Frederick Buechner, author of more than thirty works of fiction and nonfiction, is an ordained Presbyterian minister. He has been a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and was honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His most recent work is Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC’s of Faith.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (April 10, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060611855
• ISBN-13: 978-0060611859
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 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: #428,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Frederick Buechner is the popular author of such nonfiction titles as Telling the Truth, Wishful Thinking, and Peculiar Treasures. The New York Times Book Review described his recently published memoir, The Sacred Journey, as a "beautifully successful experiment." In addition to The Final Beast, which was originally published in 1965, Mr. Buechner is the author of ten other novels, including the bestselling A Long Day's Dying and, most recently, Godric. He makes his home in Rupert, Vermont.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent, Literary and Powerful, December 6, 2001

By 

G. Axelson "Dr. Gary Axelson" (Oakton, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Room Called Remember: Uncollected Pieces (Paperback)

This is a wonderful collection of essays and sermons from a novelist and theologian who doesn't check his intellect or doubts when he steps into a pulpit. Which makes him credible to skeptics like me who are struggling back toward the faith of their childhood. In my other favorite Buechner - "Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy and Fairy Tale" - he begins with the point that any preacher who fails to address the experience of God's absence in much of our lives stands little chance of credibly carrying the message of joy and magic. His use of Shakespeare's Lear in that book is elegant.

As for "A Room Called Remember," I found myself moved over and over again by a central message of Hope that transcended all of the various chapters - hope for the possibility of things I long ago gave up as illusion. As a clinical psychologist approaching age 60, I can think of many psychoanalytic and existential explanations for my return to faith at this point in my life. But writers like Frederick Buechner help give me the courage to quit analyzing and simply to accept the gift. The doubts will remain - but that is a part of the gift as well. Without it, there is no challenge or experience of Faith. Or Grace.

I plan to buy copies of this book and give them to people in my life who I most care about.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intimate, encouraging essays on faith and God's love, October 30, 2000

By 

mike herlihy (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Room Called Remember: Uncollected Pieces (Paperback)

There is an immediacy and intimacy about this collection of essays. I felt a connection with Buechner, wanting to thank him for sharing his wisdom, honesty and gentleness. The opening and closing essays, on the holiness of remembrance and aging, respectively, were my favorites, but he covers everything from gleaning from sermons to everyday examples of the sacred's presence. His writing speaks to the sophisticated and the broken with the same message of God's redeeming love for us. Read it on the bus or before bed and let it change your perspective.

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Writer, January 8, 2011

By 

rewp - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Room Called Remember: Uncollected Pieces (Paperback)

When I first read something by Frederick Buechner, it was in a collection of many different writers. I was immediately drawn to his writing. I checked out several of his books from my library and found him consistently good. Perhaps it's because he frequently brings up questions and doubts that I have that makes me feel like he's speaking from his heart. I've bought this book both for myself and for others.