Customer Reviews

Seeking Enlightenment...Hat by Hat: A Skeptic's Path to Religion

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This is not so much a book as a series of related essays about life and the other imponderables related to living. But, what a group of essays it is. This is not a book for the Bible thumpers, Barr is not so sure that she believes in God so much as she is now comfortable with the idea of God. And, she gets to this point, revelation by revelation, hat by hat, not of God but of her. You do not really understand her fiction unless you read this book. It adds such depth to her characters.
I enjoyed the book, and I profited from reading it. What more can you say about any book, any work of art? Buy it. Read it yourself and enjoy the presence of an interesting woman.

This interesting biography showcases Nevada Barr's quest for knowledge of much that seems untenable and dependent on belief. The author, renowned for her Anna Pigeon mysteries, explains that as she worked through numerous jobs like acting and writing, she grew up as an contemptuous atheist who deep down inside wanted to believe, but needed proof. She read everything she could and entered discussions in her search for empirical evidence for something to believe in greater than her short life.

SEEKING ENLIGHTENMENT HAT BY HAT is targeted for a limited audience. This obvious labor of love is aimed at the most devout fans of the author or exterior cynics seeking enlightenment of the existence of a greater presence. Those casual fans of the author's mysteries will want to pass to avoid feeling like a pigeon. The writer states her external searches proved futile in terms of concrete confirmation, but when she began to look at the inner essence of Nevada Barr she began to feel a sense of being part of a greater universe than just herself. One hat at a time, Ms. Barr provides a deep, humorous look at how she found her spiritual path that she ironically (in light of her honest admittance that her research into other writings failed to answer her questions) hopes encourages others to do likewise.

Harriet Klausner

This autobiography/philosophy is not an in-depth life story, nor is it strictly a religious study. We become familiar with bits and pieces of Nevada Barr's past, but only as they apply to her personal maturing process and evolving spirituality. She presents and discusses religious tenets, but not in the new-age fadlike fashion of _Conversations with God_ by Neale Donald Walsch or _Celestine Prophecy_ by James Redfield. And she's someone famous, someone we already "know" -- but not an author we'd expect to hear such talk from. Therein lies the charm of _Seeking Enlightenment_.

In short and easy subject-based chapters, Barr reveals her basic philosophies of life. Readers can decide whether or not they agree with her conclusions. There's no pressure here...except perhaps for the chapter called "Do animals have souls?", which begins with the succinct first paragraph: "Of course they do. Don't be an idiot." (Hear! hear!) I found myself smiling at and re-reading some passages and later hurrying over others. Sometimes the stories sounded so close to the experiences of friends that I made a mental note to share this book with those folks after I'm finished with it. Or better yet, I'll buy and distribute copies as gifts.

Some fans will pick this book up because of the author's name and will leave most of it unread when they realize it's not another Anna Pigeon mystery. The more curious ones will continue on with an eye to compare Nevada's background, beliefs, and behaviors with Anna's. They'll nod in satisfaction when some of Anna's history does indeed show up in Nevada's own life. Still others will savor these casual observations enough to sit down and think about their own philosophies. If a busy mystery writer can take the time to contemplate Life, why can't we?

For Nevada Barr, her faith journey started in a church that was close to home, had light shining through a stained glass window and was open at the moment she responded to an inner impulse. As she describes herself..."I was a godless heathen and proud of it. According to the priest as the Epsicopal church, I am still a heathen but no longer godless." The description of her coming from no childhood experience of a church and hearing church members criticized to eventually joining a church is told in a very readable and quite touching. Most of the book is a series of thoughts or anecdotes about judgment,sin, gratitude etc. It is the type of book to read one ot two chapters at a time and to return to at a later time. One thing is for certain; Nevada Barr can flat out write well.

I remember the beginning of "Track of the Cat," the first Anna Pigeon mystery, where she muses about having sought all the gods and goddesses, and found them dead and useless to her. The theme of the spiritual journey recurs in the series, until in "Flashback," the proposal of marriage she flees from is from an Episcopal priest whose work she respects. Anna loves animals and needs the wilderness to keep her sanity and her spirituality. I'd wondered if this reflected Nevada Barr's life. So I was delighted to find the book. And I did learn that the reflection was there. But Barr keeps the reader at a considerable distance. There are confessions, tears, faults displayed. There is humor. But this is no deep spiritual classic. Nevada Barr has opened the door on her soul just a little. But she has definitely not shone the light on herself as she does on Anna Pigeon. Anna is my very favorite protagonist of mysteries today, with her intelligence, her prickliness, her spirituality, however "nonreligious," her integrity, her humor, her loyalty, her pluck and persistence. It's clear all of that's in Nevada Barr too, somewhere. But she hasn't shown it to us in this, her first non-fiction book. As a fan, I wouldn't have missed it. I'll recommend it to other fans. But if you're not a fan, don't bother.

This is an honest account of Navada Barr's spiritual journey told in short essays. There is a mixture of seriousness and lightheartedness here. Anyone willing to share such personal detail of spiritual development deserves much credit for courage. Her candor gives the book its authenticity and makes the reader want to keep reading.

Describing ones spiritual life in a way that would provide an exact road map for others is probably impossible, but you can see that the "ah!ha!" moments often happen when we least expect them and often when we think we least deserve them. This book is full of hope, optimism, and joy. I really liked it.

As a fanatical fan of the Anna Pigeon series, I was ready to read just about anything Nevada Barr wrote. The book's subtitle promises to record Barr's spiritual "path" and the title of "hat to hat" suggests a charming theme. The LC Cataloging-in-Publication assigns this book to "biography." Yet we get not a path, but a series of unrelated thoughts. You have to stretch to call this book biography. And hats appear only in the introduction and a rather forced conclusion.

I must admit I was hoping for a narrative story, as befitting a novelist who creates magnificent plots, believeable 3D characters and, above all, scene and place. Instead, we get a series of unrelated musings that could have been written by almost any decent writer. There's a bit of humor, as when Barr asks to be confirmed, although she doesn't accept Jesus as her personal savior, and the priest agrees. Yet in the end we're served a fairly standard helping of, "I sinned, I saw the light, here's what I believe now."

There's a tantalizing glimpse into Barr's life, when she says she'd rather be a tiger's lunch than a conforming member of a pod. And we learn she's experienced depression, addiction, betrayal, joblessness and more. Yet there's no sense of how she put the pieces together to arrive not only whole, but wildly successful.

I was interested to learn that all the experts agree on two keys to relieving depression: exercise and service. Nothing new about exercise -- but what type of service does Barr take up? Not everyone is cut out for standard volunteer options. Some folks are better off making pots of money and donating so that others might serve hands-on.

Of course Barr writes well, although there's less style evident here than I would have expected. Yet we have to acknowledge that an unknown author probably could not have gotten this book published by anyone -- certainly not a major house like Putnam. When we buy a brand name, we don't want to be served generics. I'm waiting for Barr to write the real story of her life...but I can't help wishing she'd put energy of writing this book into another Anna Pigeon story.

Only Nevada Barr can write those wonderful mysteries. Dozens of converts can write about spirituality.

Maybe it's just me....but this was the most suprisingly enjoyable and personally helpful book I have ever read. I have never read any other Nevada Barr books, nor had I ever even heard of them, as I don't generally read fiction books. (Though after reading this book and loving her writing style, I may have to see what Anna Pigeon is all about) I was absolutely in awe, page after page, that this woman, who I have never met, was taking words, feelings and experiences right out of my mind and soul, and putting them down on paper. I could absolutely relate to every page of her journey, to feeling uncomfortable with the southerners Jesus name dropping, to trying to find the truth between a higher power, and religious doctrine (full of human input and in my opinion, errors) The song Killing me softly comes to mind, as though she'd found my letters and read each one outloud. She made me feel not so alone, on a very personal quest to find meaning in God. From her growth from somewhat selfish, self-absorbed, addicted personality, to finding love growth and strength from other women, and letting herself become involed in and committed to a church. What a fabulous book. Thank you Nevada!

I've read all Nevada Barr's books not so much for their stories/plots but because I love Ms. Barr's, and her protagonist Anna Pigeon's, attitudes and views on life. I first took it out of the library, read it twice, and then decided I wanted my own copy so I could reread it whenever I wanted.

For me, this book is about Ms. Barr's journey to reconcile and integrate spirituality, without becoming a religious fanatic, with her down-to-earth psyche and firm footing in physical reality. This is something I've been working on for most of my life, and I'm astonished how similar my thoughts have been to Ms. Barr's. The thought paths she takes you through in this book, and the clarity of her conclusions, helped me focus on who I am and how to make the best of my time here. I am so glad I found this book.

This book touches deeply and lovingly on many of today's spiritual issues. I bought copies of this book for all the people in my life that I care about.