A guided tour of spiritual autobiography that grants readers new insights and appreciation of the genre The genre of spiritual autobiography has flourished ever since Augustine essentially invented it in the fourth century. In Our Hearts Are Restless, Richard Lischer--himself the author of two spiritual memoirs--takes readers on a guided tour of the genre, examining the life writings of twenty-one figures from the expected (Thomas Merton) to the surprising (James Baldwin); from the sublime Julian of Norwich and Emily Dickinson to the outrageous Anne Lamott. Lischer is a perceptive reader and an engaging guide in the art and craft of spiritual writing. Our Hearts Are Restless shows readers how history's most brilliant spiritual writers have sought and found a pattern of meaning in the face of tragedy, conflict, and the responsibilities of daily life.

About the Author
Richard Lischer is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Duke Divinity School. He is the author or editor of fifteen books, including The Preacher King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Word that Moved America (OUP, 1995, Expanded, 2020), as well as two spiritual memoirs, Open Secrets: A Memoir of Faith and Discovery and Stations of the Heart: Parting with a Son.

Reviews
Lives--we learn to live by attending to lives. In our hunger for coherence we are tempted to simplify the lives of others as well as our lives. In this beautifully written book Richard Lischer's truthful account of lives, Christian and non-Christian lives, testifies to the complexity of what it means to live well. In this time when it is by no means clear what it means to live honesty as a Christian, Lischer's account of these lives gives us a way to go on. This is a book of wisdom that took a lifetime to write. * Stanley Hauerwas, author of Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir *
Lischer has a storyteller's genius, a pastor's instinct for emotional authenticity, a preacher's eye for tracing gospel truth, a scholar's skill at critical inquiry, and a Christian understanding of love and suffering. As he opens up these faithful lives, he shows how true is John Donne's dictum: 'The art of salvation is but the art of memory.' * Ellen F. Davis, author of Opening Israel's Scriptures *
A book holy and humane, reverential yet playful, absorbing but provocative, challenging and deeply affirming. After reading you feel wiser, more compassionate, more perceptive, more comfortable with your own struggles and shortcomings-but above all, eager to revisit your own yearnings and searchings, and recognise in them the loving patience of the Holy Spirit. Richard Lischer has shown us where treasure is to be found, and reignited our desire to find it. * Sam Wells, Author of Humbler Faith, Bigger God *
This is an odd but oddly compelling book...Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, general readers. * Choice *
There is much to ponder in this humane and challenging book. * Paradigm Explorer *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197649046
Author Richard Lischer
Format Hardback
Page Count 400
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 164mm * 237mm * 36mm