Tremor Of Bliss: Contemporary Writers on the Saints (Hardcover)

by Paul Elie (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The 17 diverse essays in this absorbing collection edited by freelancer Elie are marked by the authors' largely unstinting disclosures of how they have been moved by the saints about whom they write. Novelist Kathryn Harrison chillingly describes her own girlhood extravagances of desire and denial in light of the devotions and ascetism of Catherine of Siena. Behind his "rapt and consuming interest" in the founder of the Society of Jesus, fiction writer Ron Hansen acknowledges his hope "to figure out how to live my life magnificently, as Ignatius did." Kathleen Norris, a memoirist and poet, convincingly reexamines the lives of the early church's virgin martyrs as models for women of today. Ruminating on St. John of the Cross, novelist David Plante ends with a prayer that his writing be "not about what has to do with me, but about what has to do with the great and the brilliant darkness of God." Francine Prose finds a resonant ironic tone in the writings of St. Theresa of Avila; Paul Baumann, an editor of Commonweal and young parent, considers fatherhood as he connects St. Joseph to James Joyce's Leopold Bloom. In his introduction, Coles calls these essays "a celebration of the miracle of commitment." They suggest a passion as inspiring as that of their subjects.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Veneration, emulation, and witness are ways one can look at saints. Editor Elie has compiled writings of 18 contemporary authors, such as Kathleen Norris and Richard Bausch, who bring a unique and personal perspective to regarding the saints. Each secular author has aligned him- or herself with a particular saint whose holiness and/or courage had touched his or her life. Bruce Bawer questions the idea of veneration vs. emulation while looking at the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. Kathryn Harrison offers an eloquent personal account of her struggle to be pure and holy in emulation of Saint Catherine of Siena. Elie writes about Saint Thomas (Doubting Thomas), giving witness to what we can learn from the lives of saints. The mortal nature of saints is here given a contemporary voice. For general religion collections.
L. Kriz, Sioux City P.L., Ia.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151001014
• ISBN-13: 978-0151001019
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,807,579 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spotty, December 17, 2003

By	Richard D. Lakey "paronomasiac" (Noblesville, France) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Tremor of Bliss: Contemporary writers on the saints (Paperback)

Interesting and insightful, though some of the writers told me much more about themselves than the Saint they were supposedly writing about. The writers hail from across the religious spectrum and include Protestants, Atheists and lapsed Catholics. Some may wonder about the wisdom of this, but it does give the reader a unique perspective on the power of these Saints lives in a post-Christian age.