Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season [Paperback]

Gary D. Schmidt (Editor), Susan M. Felch (Editor), Barry Moser (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

Explore how the dormancy and difficulty of winter can be a time of spiritual preparation and transformation.

For many, winter is a time of postponed activity--and of shoveling snow, navigating ice, and trying to keep warm. What can easily be forgotten in winter’s cold and occasional dreariness is that it can also be a time of shoring up, of purity, praise, delight, and play.

In thirty stirring pieces--from translated Sanskrit and Hebrew poems to Henry David Thoreau and Bashô, Jane Kenyon, John Updike, Kathleen Norris, and Annie Dillard--we share in the recognition of winter’s hardships and celebrate the glory of winter as a spiritual gift--a quiet time in the rhythm of life, a time of thoughtfulness, of looking forward, and of unexpected hope.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This outstanding anthology features top-flight nature and spirituality writers on the fierce, inexorable season of winter. This is not the place to seek warm fuzzy odes to sleigh rides and hot cider, though those images appear occasionally. Rather, these authors speak to the brutal barrenness of winter, its frozen tundra a witness to the manner in which spirituality requires dormant, seemingly infertile periods before bursting into life. Included are excerpts from Kathleen Norris's Dakota, in which she ruminates on the apparent impossibility of the Dakota cold, and three selections from noted spirituality writer Annie Dillard. New England resident Jamaica Kincaid reflects upon the struggles of a "winter garden," while E. B. White recalls "the winter of the great snows." White rather sheepishly confesses to liking the cold, the dark and the housebound nature of winter. Excellent essays by Ron Hansen, Will Campbell, Jane Kenyon and Henry David Thoreau are remarkably lively and warm, despite the icy subject.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Gary Schmidt teaches literature at Calvin College, and is the author of Straw into Gold and Mara’s Stories: Glimmers in the Darkness, a Fanfare 2002 Horn Book honor list book.

Susan M. Felch teaches literature at Calvin College. She is the editor of The Collected Works of Anne Vaughn Lock, recipient of an honorable mention from the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women, and co-editor of Bakhtin and Religion: A Feeling for Faith. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Skylight Paths Publishing (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893361926
• ISBN-13: 978-1893361928
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #732,756 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slow down and smell the snow, April 22, 2005

By 

D. Sean West (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season (Paperback)

This is a great collection of works by a diverse range of authors organized by the different aspects of the seasons - renewal, playfulness, isolation. I had first picked this book because it had something from Annie Dillard in it but found a great number of other authors to enjoy in it; actually that has lead to a number of other great book finds - like Indian Creek Chronicles by Pete Fromm which has an excerpt in the book.

Too often the years just fly by - we have a been there, scene that attitude which causes us to just gloss over much of life. This `spiritual biography of the season' invites the reader to slowdown and truly observe what is going on around then. So far this is the only one I have read in the series but certainly plan on similarly enjoying a similar look at the other seasons.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for winter meditations, December 5, 2007

By 

John "A Coffee Lover" (Vermont, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season (Paperback)

Winter is my favorite season. I moved from Texas to nothern climates just to enjoy winter as I did in my childhood.

Winter (the book) allows me to revel in Winter (the season). I like how the many different writers bring varying aspects to the topic creating a depth most books lack. Many of the features confronted my notion and beliefs of the season, but after time and reflection, I began to not only see winter in a new way, but I experienced it differently also.

If you like to hibernate for weeks at a time while watching the snow fall, this is a great book to steep you in the season.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comforting read for winter, February 8, 2011

By 

Skiffle queen (SE Montana) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season (Paperback)

This is a beautiful book with diverse feelings about winter and its effects on people and the landscape; enjoyable to read. I go back to it and read it again. The true measure of a good book for me.