The Force of Spirit

By Scott Russell Sanders

Book Overview

"One of America's finest essayists. Sanders writes with a rare grace and sensitivity, befriending the reader by being so human himself." -Phillip Lopate Scott Russell Sanders reveals how the pressure of the sacred breaks through the surfaces of ordinary life-a life devoted to grown-up children and aging parents, the craft of writing, and the natural world. Whether writing to his daughter and his son as each prepares to get married, or describing an encounter with a red-tailed hawk in whose form he glimpses his dead father, or praising the disciplines of writing and carpentry and teaching, Sanders registers, in finely tuned prose, the force of spirit. "Sanders's voice is honest and witty and rich with the joy of storytelling; he confronts gently, but with determination, many of the dilemmas of our time and the enigmatic nature of our worlds. The Force of Spirit urges the reader to sit back, to enjoy the pleasure of reading, then to consider and reconsider carefully." -Pattiann Rogers, author of Eating Bread and Honey "In the tradition of Montaigne, Thoreau, Wendell Berry, and Annie Dillard, Sanders has established himself as one of the few masters of the personal essay." -Tom Montgomery-Fate, The Boston Globe "Sanders is the writer I turn to when I feel the need to slow down, pay attention, ponder the blessings of life and acknowledge them with due respect, apprehension, joy. His newest gathering of essays . . . only enhances my admiration for his values, vision, and eloquence." -Jim Mustick, A Common Reader Scott Russell Sanders has won the Lannan Literary Award and the Great Lakes Book Award. His books include Hunting for Hope, The Paradise of Bombs, and Secrets of the Universe. He teaches at Indiana University, in Bloomington, where he lives with his wife.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807062979
• ISBN13: 9780807062975
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Essays on Life's Center

"Sanders is the writer I turn to when I feel the need to slow down, pay attention, ponder the blessings of life..." I've lifted that from the dust jacket because I can't say it any better. The Force of Spirit is a collection of essays on the existence of, and belief in, a spiritual center to life. Through personal anecdotes and musings Sanders approaches the topic from a dozen directions, gradually making a case for his own belief but never dictating yours. I'm far from a fan of precious memoirs (see my review of Marley and Me), and I don't share Sanders' belief in any sort of true universal spirit. But there are iconic experiences, and maybe primordial instincts, that can guide us away from life's frantic effemera toward a sense of calm, perhaps even centeredness, which seems to be its own reward. Sanders gently walks a path around and through some of the places and experiences in his life that have brought him a kind of peace and perhaps understanding, and I find that his observations quietly encourage me to value similar essentials in my own life. You don't have to believe in God to understand that a solitary meander beside a woodland stream can do you a world of good. This book is a subtle and eloquent reminder "to slow down, pay attention, ponder the blessings of life."

A Common Thread

Scott Russell Sanders speaks to and through all of us with his poignant collection of universal experiences. His voice contains an authentic and quiet dignity that is increasingly difficult to hear in the cacophony of modern life.