She Needed Me [Paperback]

Walter Kirn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1993

After a meeting outside a St. Paul abortion clinic, two young people--Kim, pregnant, desperate, broke, and seeking help; and Weaver, a devout member of a fanatical protest group--fall in love despite their differences. A first novel.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Weaver Walquist, substance abuser turned fundamentalist, meets Kim Lindgren at a most unlikely time--while he is protesting in front of the Minneapolis abortion clinic she is about to enter. Despite their differences, these two troubled individuals develop a curiously symbiotic relationship, an alliance tenuously balanced between friendship and unacknowledged love. Kim's pregnancy leads Weaver to attempt reconciliations with both their estranged families. After a disastrous visit to Kim's North Dakota home, they find refuge, and an unexpected resolution, with Weaver's mother in Wisconsin. Kirn sensitively portrays his main characters' painful emotional waltz, perfectly capturing the hesitancy and mistrust that sabotages their yearning. While the moral dilemmas of abortion play a part in this bittersweet tale, the novel focuses more on the hearts of its protagonists, touching the reader's heart along the way. Recommended for most collections.
- Lawrence Rungren, Bedford Free P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Kirn's first novel relies on the same plain style and midwestern sensibility that characterized his collection of stories, My Hard Bargain (1990). It's a timely melodrama about faith and apostasy set against a bleak landscape of dying farms and bland city-life. Weaver Wolquist, a 26-year-old born-again Christian, meets Kim Lindgren, a 23-year-old aspiring greeting-card illustrator, outside a St. Paul abortion clinic. A few months pregnant, Kim decides against the operation after confronting the prostrate Weaver, a ``very proud'' member of the anti-abortion group ``The Conscience Squad.'' Impressed by Weaver's sincerity, Kim eventually befriends the former drugged-out head-banger, himself ``saved'' by the charismatic Lucas Barnes, a Prozac-popping strategist and proselytizer for the Bryce St. Church of God. Despite his religious certainty, Weaver is a reluctant salesman of Christian beauty products, and instead relies on an allowance from his widowed mother, a successful businesswoman in Wisconsin. As ``circumstances'' begin to overtake ``beliefs,'' Weaver chastely pursues his mission with Kim over the objections of the paranoid Lucas. A trip to the Lindgren family farm in North Dakota is meant to convince Kim of her righteous decision not to abort. Instead, Weaver finds her family as dysfunctional and craven as any he's met--from Kim's angry ``motorhead'' brother to her selfish parents, rich on government set-asides. The celibate Weaver finally consummates his love for kim, breaks all ties with the increasingly violent Lucas, has a reconciliation with his mother, and acknowledges he's no one's savior. As much about spiritual hunger as the abortion controversy, Kirn's straight-talking fiction contributes greatly to our understanding of the antinomian tendencies in American fundamentalism. Its very simplicity also makes it a perfect candidate for the screen. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (October 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067178093X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671780937
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,142,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

WALTER KIRN is a contributing editor to Time magazine, where he was nominated for a National Magazine Award in his first year, and a regular reviewer for the New York Times Book Review. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, GQ, Vogue, New York and Esquire. He is the author of four previous works of fiction: My Hard Bargain: Stories, She Needed Me, Thumbsucker, and Up in the Air. He lives in Livingston, Montana.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars SHE NEEDED ME, February 14, 2001

By 

angie bruckshaw (Kansas City, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: She Needed Me (Paperback)

This book is about Kim Lindgren and Weaver Wolquist who meet each other outside a St. Paul abortion clinic, Weaver is a 26-year-old "born again christian and Kim is a 23-year-old woman who has no money and is pregnant. Weaver stops her from having the abortion saying that he can help her. As these two become closer they learn of each other's families and the problems within the families. Through all of the things that they went through they somehow seem to find love with one another. This book is unlike any other book I have read before. It mainly deals with two people meeting in odd circumstances helping each other get through their problems, and in the end loving each other. At first I didn't like the book, but as I reading into it further I realized it had a lot of depth to it. It was a very spiritual book in that it dealt with Christian cults and pro -life activists. Out of the whole book the one quote that I liked the most was when Weaver is talking towards the end of the book he says,"Strangers deserve to know only so much, and I have already revealed more than I should have." I like this quote because it is true and it has a lot of meaning to it. He shared everything in his life with a woman he hardly knew to get her through her bad situation. That makes him a great guy for doing that. The books message deals with all sorts of different issues and makes me think of all of the things I need to do to become a better person. The books shows how one's faith can change people's lives and I think that is a wonderful thing to do. This author's style is unusual from any other books that I have read and none have even touched close to the types of things that this writer is writing about. I would not recommend this book for young children or even young teenagers. I think that this book is mainly for adults and maybe young adults due to the subject matter that isd in the book, especially with the abortion issue. Overall I think this book was good. I would recommend it to any of my friends that I thought would like this type of book.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Moving and hilarious, April 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: She Needed Me (Paperback)

A funny and elegant meditation on the search for faith, love, and self-discipline. We care about Weaver, though he seems a bit brainwashed by his pro-life sect, because he tempers the sincere desire for moral certainties with great humanity. His life is aimless, but he does no harm. He is an astute skeptic when it comes to his religious group. He falls for a "fallen" woman while valiantly struggling to reconcile his ridiculous moral absolutes with fuzzy gray realities. Beautifully written, the book offers no easy answers to moral ambiguities, which is exactly the point.