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DESERT PILGRIM
Swander, Mary
2003 44788 From Barnes & Noble The Barnes & Noble Review from Discover Great New Writers Mary Swander loved her solitary life on the Iowa prairie. But when a car accident leaves her partially paralyzed, her chronic pain unresponsive to medication, she is virtually helpless and must depend on the care of a team of friends to help her through the frozen winter. Offered a position to teach at the University of New Mexico, she grabs it, hopeful that the warmer, drier climate may do her some good. Ensconced in Albuquerque, Swander, a lapsed Catholic, tentatively begins to reconnect with her lost faith through talks with a Russian Orthodox monk. Father Sergei's church is a small oasis of peace and beauty on a stretch of Route 66 that harbors crack dealers, gangs, and the homeless. Swander also seeks out alternative methods of treatment, enlisting the support of Lu, an herbal healer who refuses payment. The combination of Lu's herbs and Father Sergei's chats begins to have a miraculous effect, not only strengthening Swander physically but reawakening her spirit as well. As Lu reminds her, "Faith doesn't mean that everything will always be good in life. That's luck. Faith means you'll always be connected wherever life takes you." With this poetic look at pain, acceptance, faith, and the unknown, Mary Swander has given readers a real gift. (Fall 2003 Selection) From the Publisher In this exquisite memoir, critically acclaimed writer Mary Swander recounts her extraordinary trek from suffering to emotional, physical, and spiritual recovery. After a car accident left her almost completely paralyzed and in chronic pain with no medical cure in sight, Swander-a lapsed Catholic, without any family to speak of-headed for New Mexico in search of the alternative medicine that the region is known for. Amid the stark beauty of the desert, she meets two unusual healers: Father Sergei, a Russian Orthodox monk who helps restore her faith, and Lu, a curandera, whose herbal remedies help restore her body. Using her own transcendent experiences, Swander weaves an investigation into the history of healing and such mystics as Teresa of Avila, St. Francis of Assisi, and Hildegard of Bingen. Beautifully written, The Desert Pilgrim shows readers how to restore their faith in the modern world-and how to believe in miracles again. Author Biography: Mary Swander is an award-winning poet and essayist and the author of eight works of nonfiction. Her work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, New Republic, and USA Today. A regular commentator on Iowa Public Radio, Swander teaches at Iowa State University. Publishers Weekly This nonfiction memoir of a chronically ill poet who rediscovers her Catholic faith and perceives its healing power reads like a cross between Kathleen Norris and Carlos Castaneda. Swander, an Iowa poet who developed a paralyzing neurological condition when her car was hit by a drunk driver, weaves family history and an introduction to historic Catholic mystics into a tale of her recovery from illness when she journeys from snowbound Iowa to the desert of New Mexico as a visiting professor. She meets two "everyday mystics"-a Russian Orthodox priest named Father Sergei, whose theology has a discernible Buddhist accent, and a Hispanic herbal healer named Lu. Both tend to her body and soul as they help her to recover. The author writes movingly and keenly about the death of her mother from cancer, and her details of landscape and situation are lively in their particularity: a yapping pack of Chihuahuas, the lusty zucchini growing in Father Sergei's garden. Swander's language of faith is more hesitant as she searches for its embodiment in her lived experience. The timeless Christian allegory of pilgrimage to belief is freshly rendered. This poet-pilgrim joins a literary tradition of others before her who journeyed through the dark nights of doubt to the convinced light of faith. This is a beautifully written book. (Aug. 25) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. Library Journal The "healing" in Swander's previous memoir, Viking Adult 0-670-03195-X / 9780670031955
Hardcover As New Condition New York
Price:
25.93 USD
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THE DESERT PILGRIM: EN ROUTE TO MYSTICISM AND MIRACLES
Swander, Mary
2003 400353 From Publishers Weekly This nonfiction memoir of a chronically ill poet who rediscovers her Catholic faith and perceives its healing power reads like a cross between Kathleen Norris and Carlos Castaneda. Swander, an Iowa poet who developed a paralyzing neurological condition when her car was hit by a drunk driver, weaves family history and an introduction to historic Catholic mystics into a tale of her recovery from illness when she journeys from snowbound Iowa to the desert of New Mexico as a visiting professor. She meets two "everyday mystics"-a Russian Orthodox priest named Father Sergei, whose theology has a discernible Buddhist accent, and a Hispanic herbal healer named Lu. Both tend to her body and soul as they help her to recover. The author writes movingly and keenly about the death of her mother from cancer, and her details of landscape and situation are lively in their particularity: a yapping pack of Chihuahuas, the lusty zucchini growing in Father Sergei's garden. Swander's language of faith is more hesitant as she searches for its embodiment in her lived experience. The timeless Christian allegory of pilgrimage to belief is freshly rendered. This poet-pilgrim joins a literary tradition of others before her who journeyed through the dark nights of doubt to the convinced light of faith. This is a beautifully written book. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. Product Description: Mary Swander was a lapsed Catholic content with the solitude and tenuous spirituality of a life tied to the Iowa prairie and its seasons. But when a car accident left her paralyzed and in chronic pain with no medical cure in sight, she was forced to look inside herself for strength and for meaning. In The Desert Pilgrim she chronicles her miraculous physical recovery and her even more astonishing restoration of faith in the modern world. It is when she arrives to teach at the University of New Mexico that Mary's journey begins in earnest. In Albuquerque she encounters Father Sergei, a Russian Orthodox monk whose barrio church is hidden away on the once-proud Route 66, now the terrain of crack dealers and the homeless. She meets a curandera, "Lu," an herbal healer whose little pharmacy's first owner rode with Pancho Villa. Together these two will lead her to confront her growing distrust of medical and spiritual authority, and her own dark night of the soul. Evocatively and reflectively written, The Desert Pilgrim weaves together history, herbal medicine, physical healing, and what it means-in this modern age-to believe Viking Compass 0-670-03195-X / 9780670031955
Hardcover As New New York
Price:
22.61 USD
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