{"product_id":"devotion-a-memoir-isbn-9780061628344","title":"Devotion: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eDevotion\u003c\/em\u003e’s biggest triumph is its voice: funny and unpretentious, concrete and earthy—appealing to skeptics and believers alike. This is a gripping, beautiful story.” —Jennifer Egan, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Keep\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I was immensely moved by this elegant book.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Ea\u003cem\u003et, Pray, Love \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDani Shapiro, the acclaimed author of the novel \u003cem\u003eBlack and White\u003c\/em\u003e and the bestselling memoir \u003cem\u003eSlow Motion\u003c\/em\u003e, is back with \u003cem\u003eDevotion\u003c\/em\u003e: a searching and timeless new memoir that examines the fundamental questions that wake women in the middle of the night, and grapples with the ways faith, prayer, and devotion affect everyday life. Devotion is sure to appeal to all those dealing with the trials and tribulations of what Carl Jung called “the afternoon of life.” \u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eIn her midforties and settled into the responsibilities and routines of adulthood, Dani Shapiro found herself with more questions than answers. Was this all life was—a hodgepodge of errands, dinner dates, e-mails, meetings, to-do lists? What did it all mean?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHaving grown up in a deeply religious and traditional family, Shapiro had no personal sense of faith, despite repeated attempts to create a connection to something greater. Feeling as if she was plunging headlong into what Carl Jung termed \"the afternoon of life,\" she wrestled with self-doubt and a searing disquietude that would awaken her in the middle of the night. Set adrift by loss—her father's early death; the life-threatening illness of her infant son; her troubled relationship with her mother—she had become edgy and uncertain. At the heart of this anxiety, she realized, was a challenge: What did she believe? Spurred on by the big questions her young son began to raise, Shapiro embarked upon a surprisingly joyful quest to find meaning in a constantly changing world. The result is \u003cem\u003eDevotion\u003c\/em\u003e: a literary excavation to the core of a life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this spiritual detective story, Shapiro explores the varieties of experience she has pursued—from the rituals of her black hat Orthodox Jewish relatives to yoga \u003cem\u003eshalas\u003c\/em\u003e and meditation retreats. A reckoning of the choices she has made and the knowledge she has gained, \u003cem\u003eDevotion\u003c\/em\u003e is the story of a woman whose search for meaning ultimately leads her home. Her journey is at once poignant and funny, intensely personal—and completely universal.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Shapiro is a thoughtful observer, and her writing is lovely.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJuliet Wittman, Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Brave, compelling, unexpectedly witty. . . . Stunningly intimate journey. . . . Thanks to Shapiro’s excruciatingly honest self-examination and crystal clear, lyrical writing, the journey—as secular swami Steve Jobs once famously said—is indeed the reward.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeople (4 out of 4 stars)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“At a certain age (heading-into-middle) and level of income (upper middle), Americans are prone to ask themselves, in the tradition of Peggy Lee, “Is That All There Is?” This tendency has spawned a subgenre of Seeker books-like Kathleen Norris’s “Cloister Walk.” Anne Lamott’s “Traveling Mercies” and, of course, Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love.” With Devotion, Shapiro joins their ranks. . . . In short, lyrical bursts of prose, Shapiro explores various flavors of belief. . . . Shapiro is a gifted chronicler of frayed nerves.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJudith Newman, New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is a beautiful, wry and moving story about one intelligent woman’s journey into her own life, to the corners where intelligence doesn’t always help.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmy Bloom, author of Away\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The one book that anyone over, say, 35 needs to read right now.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJesse Kornbluth, Huffington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[A] lovely mosaic of a memoir. . . . Courageous, authentic, and funny. . . . Devotion is the best kind of memoir—although it’s about someone else’s life, it makes you shine a flashlight on your own.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmy Scribner, Bookpage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In Devotion . . . Shapiro movingly unravels her personal history . . . and her subsequent quest to resolve a spiritual unease and to satisfy her son’s questions about God. . . . Shapiro’s spiritual inquiry digs at doubts many of us face about our place in the universe, and her struggles with the God question serve as a hopeful reminder that a belief system can begin with an individual manifesto: less a set of rules than a matrix of bits and pieces that form the ‘patchwork of our lives.’” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKari Wethington, Elle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I was immensely moved by this elegant book, which reminded me all over again that all of us-at some point or another-must buck up our courage and face down the big spiritual questions of life, death, love, loss and surrender. Dani Shapiro probes all those questions gracefully and honestly, avoiding overly simple conclusions, while steadfastly exploring her own complicated relationship to faith and doubt.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eElizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I was on the verge of tears more than once in the course of Dani Shapiro’s impeccably structured spiritual odyssey.  But Devotion’s biggest triumph is its voice: funny and unpretentious, concrete and earthy-appealing to skeptics and believers alike. This is a gripping, beautiful story.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJennifer Egan, author of The Keep\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I was immensely moved by this elegant book, which reminded me all over again that all of us-at some point or another-must buck up our courage and face down the big spiritual questions of life, death, love, loss and surrender.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eElizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Dani Shapiro’s novels and nonfiction are always rich in honesty and intelligence, about the psyche and lost hearts and families, about messes and shame and what calls us to transcend.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAnne Lamott, author of Grace (Eventually)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Dani Shapiro’s novels and nonfiction are always rich in honesty and intelligence, about the psyche and lost hearts and families, about messes and shame and what calls us to transcend; and how painfully we find out who we are, and how inadequate and stunning the journey is, how it goes both so slowly and in the blink of an eye—how dark  and then what (against all odds) so brilliantly lights the way.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAnne Lamott, author of Grace (Eventually)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Dani Shapiro takes readers on an intense journey in search of meaning and peace. Her story of hope is eloquently told and unflinchingly honest.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle  Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle  Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is a book for people who pray, for people who breathe deeply as a form of prayer, for people who have no idea why or even how some people pray.  This is a beautiful, wry and moving story about one intelligent woman’s journey into her own life, to the corners where intelligence doesn’t always help. \u003ci\u003eDevotion\u003c\/i\u003e is a book for anyone who knows or suspects that they are, to paraphrase Carl Jung, thoroughly unprepared to step into the afternoon of life.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmy Bloom, author of Away\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889167692005,"sku":"NP9780061628344","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780061628344.jpg?v=1730230665","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/devotion-a-memoir-isbn-9780061628344","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}