Originally published in 1990. Many post-World War I autobiographies focus on episodes of crisis. In a century torn by global strife and breakdown of cultural institutions, autobiography provides a way of recovering from crisis and restructuring reality-a healing act that involves the writer in a "wrestle with words and meanings" that can be deeply regenerative. Narration can be a way of purging guilt and pain, re-centering the self, and reconnecting with community after a shattering experience has driven one into silence and isolation. This book considers the problems, such as finding words for the inexplicable, the narrative perspective chosen and the traditional forms or narrative structures as means of re-patterning consciousness. It looks at seven autobiographies as crisis narratives and demonstrates how therapy and art merge in autobiography so that the literature acts back upon life. Works considered: Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth; Elie Wiesel's Night; Christa Wolf's Kinheitsmuster (A Model Childhood); C. S. Lewis' A Grief Observed; Peter Handke's Wunschloses Unglueck (A Sorrow Beyond Dreams); Adrienne Rich's Of Woman Born; Robert Prisig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Originally published in 1990. Many post-World War I autobiographies focus on episodes of crisis. In a century torn by global strife and breakdown of cultural institutions, autobiography provides a way of recovering from crisis and restructuring reality-a healing act that involves the writer in a "wrestle with words and meanings" that can be deeply regenerative. Narration can be a way of purging guilt and pain, re-centering the self, and reconnecting with community after a shattering experience has driven one into silence and isolation. This book considers the problems, such as finding words for the inexplicable, the narrative perspective chosen and the traditional forms or narrative structures as means of re-patterning consciousness. It looks at seven autobiographies as crisis narratives and demonstrates how therapy and art merge in autobiography so that the literature acts back upon life. Works considered: Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth; Elie Wiesel's Night; Christa Wolf's Kinheitsmuster (A Model Childhood); C. S. Lewis' A Grief Observed; Peter Handke's Wunschloses Unglueck (A Sorrow Beyond Dreams); Adrienne Rich's Of Woman Born; Robert Prisig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

This book's short reflections on fifty-one phrases from Scripture are based on the ancient Benedictine practice of lectio divina, or "holy reading." In her meditations Marilyn Chandler McEntyre invites readers to consider how a word or phrase may summon us to attention and provide theological reference points, comforting images, ways to reframe conventional ideas, or simply beautiful ways of expressing what matters. The three sections of the book - "Assurance," "Invitation," and "Surprise" - organize the reflections by tone as well as theme. Some of the reflections are devotional, some speculative, some whimsical, some edgy. In all of them readers may see modeled a way of accepting the many invitations that Scripture offers to enter its sacred spaces, play with possibilities, and connect the biblical word with the lives we are given to live.

In her What's in a Phrase? - winner of the 2015 Christianity Today award in Spirituality - Marilyn McEntyre showed readers how brief scriptural phrases can evoke and invite. In Word by Word McEntyre invites readers to dwell with single words - remembering their biblical contexts, considering the personal associations they bring up, and allowing them to become a focus for prayer and meditation. With seven phrases, questions, or prompts for each of the fifteen words she considers (see CONTENTS section), McEntyre guides readers in examining the word from a different angle each day of the week. She draws on the spiritual practices of lectio divina and centering prayer as she encourages readers to allow these single words to help us pause and hear the voice of the Spirit. "I invite you to discover," says McEntyre in her introduction, "how words may become little fountains of grace. How a single word may, if you hold it for a while, become a prayer."

Patient Poets: Illness from Inside Out invites readers to consider what caregivers and medical professionals may learn from poetry by patients. It offers reflections on poetry as a particularly apt vehicle for articulating the often isolating experiences of pain, fatigue, changed life rhythms, altered self-understanding, embarrassment, resistance, and acceptance.

Synopsis: Many remember The Scarlet Letter as required reading for reluctant sixteen year olds. The unnamed, elusive narrator of Hawthorne's "tale of human frailty and sorrow" is-some readers might say maddeningly-indirect, ambiguous, and inconsistent. Readers who hope to arrive at satisfying judgments about the book's four iconic characters-Hester, Arthur, Roger, and Pearl-are often left to arrive at their conclusions by guess and inference. The narrator provides what seems to be willfully incomplete information. His point of view shifts from one moral or historical perspective to another without announcement or apology. Reading Like a Serpent invites readers to reconsider this American classic as Hawthorne's challenge to the American public to become more generous, versatile, and responsible readers-especially of the Bible, a book Hawthorne hoped to rescue from moralistic literalists and legalists, reminding us that "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." Endorsements: "Marilyn McEntyre's meditation on The Scarlet Letter offers fresh insights on every page, in a lively invitation to reflect on the way words constrain-and convey-our apprehension of mystery. Ultimately, McEntyre invites us to read not just Hawthorne but the Gospels afresh, with an ear to hear the subversive, sly, cryptic, life-giving words of Jesus in ways that impel us toward generosity and grace." -Paul Delaney Professor of English, Westmont College Author of Tom Stoppard: The Moral Vision of the Major Plays (1990) "Whether Nathaniel Hawthorne is a profound theologian can be debated, but the case is clear as far as . . . McEntyre is concerned. Once again, she opens the world of literature to penetrating theological insight, exposing the many dimensions of the human way as they are reflected in Hawthorne's classic The Scarlet Letter. The literary quality of her interpretation may rightly be classed with that of Hawthorne himself." -Patrick Miller Professor of Old Testament Theology Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary "McEntyre tells us at the very beginning of Reading Like a Serpent that Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter is one of her favorite books. Her love for Hawthorne's novel and her delight in the crafting of words combine in happy circumstance for her readers. Read Hawthorne again with this book by your side, especially if you savor complex and elegant writing-his and her own." -Rev. L. Ann Hallisey, DMin Organizational and Leadership Consulting "I first began Reading Like a Serpent on the morning when I was to teach the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. With manuscript in hand, I flew to my class to discuss the sin of bad reading and its deathly consequences. Each of these prescient and elegant essays invites readers to dare a radical rereading of the times through Hawthorne's hermeneutic, which is at once complex, polyvalent, paradoxical, and wise. Moreover, McEntyre's prose will preach " -Cynthia A. Jarvis Minister at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia Coeditor of The Power to Comprehend with All the Saints (2009) Author Biography: Marilyn Chandler McEntyre is a former professor of English and Fellow of the Gaede Institute at Westmont College. She teaches at UC Berkeley and UC Davis. Her most recent books include Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies (2009) and The Color of Light (2007).

Wise, nurturing, faith-based reflections for caregivers of dying loved ones At some point in our lives most of us will become caregivers. It is a vocation that can last for a few weeks of recovery time or for a long period of chronic illness or disability, and it will involve us intimately in others' preparation for death. This collection of poignant reflections by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre is for family members and friends who are doing the life-changing work of accompanying someone on the final stretch of his or her journey. In quiet counterpoint to our hurried lives, A Long Letting Go invites caregivers to slow down for reflection and prayer as they prepare to say good-bye to a beloved friend or family member. Based on McEntyre's professional and personal experience with the dying, these gentle meditations offer comfort, direction, hope, respite, and consolation to caregivers during a difficult season of their own lives.

We live longer now than previous generations did, and many of us die more slowly. Those who are dying have a lot of things to deal with. Fear. Discouragement. Boredom. Pain. Regrets. And much more. This wonderful book by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre offers fifty-two short, poignant meditations on the very real issues faced by people who are dying. McEntyre addresses such things as anger, losing control, curiosity, doubt, loss of privacy, family conflict, and spiritual torpor. Her insightful reflections speak to the heart of the physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of dying. Brief concluding prayers further lift up the reader as he or she seeks to faithfully navigate the great transition through death to a new life.