Customer Reviews

In Search of Grace: A Journey Across America's Landscape of Faith

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kristin Hahn's book was a wonderful find for me. Not only did I grow up feeling like a religious outsider myself, but I could easily relate to her tolerant and often humorous approach to each and every belief system that she experiences. I say "experiences" because that is exactly what this book is all about. How do people of widely differing beliefs experience the transcendent? And how does that inform their personal and communal lives?

Though this book is by no means a comprehensive or exhaustive approach to the pluralistic society in which we live (how could any book achieve that?), it shared with me many fascinating (and sometimes secretive) glimpses of the diverse American religious topography that we have inherited. What makes this a five-star review is that Kristin Hahn shares her spiritual awakening with the reader in such melodic prose that I have ordered this book with the hope of revisiting it from time to time when I will inevitably find myself viewing the world through mono-chromatic glasses.

In Search of Grace will always remind me of how much richer the world of spirituality and belief is when viewed as a tapestry of differing shades of grey.

This book offers an interesting look into one woman's search for the meaning and experience of spiritualty. I think the book's layout (chapters devoted to different branches of religion, along with the brief histories of each group given at the start of the chapter) lend's itself to be (mis)interpreted as a non-fiction anthology. At times I felt the book was misinforming, especially on Unitarian Universalism, which is my own leaning. However, in retrospect, I think the author never intended to be an authority. Through this book I saw Catholic practices and rituals in a new light and with renewed inspiration, and had my interest piqued about Sikhs, Mormons, Amish and the Scientologists. I found the writing to be a little too "pop" for me at times, and generally like the content of the accounts more than her way of telling about them.