Dusk, night, dawn: on revival and courage

"In Anne Lamott's new book, she confronts the harsh truth that many of us grapple with every day: How can we recapture the confidence we once had in the world and in the future as we stumble through the dark times that seem increasingly bleak? As bad news piles up every day -- from climate crises to threats to democracy to daily assaults on civility -- how can we mere mortals cope? Where, Lamott asks, "do we start to get our joy and hope and our faith in life itself back ... with sore feet, hearing loss, stiff fingers, poor digestion, stunned minds, broken hearts?" We begin, Lamott explains, by accepting our flaws and embracing our humanity "in the here and now. ... We look up and around for [the] brighter ribbons" of connection, loyalty, and support. Drawing from her own experiences and her own faith journey, Lamott offers insights into the intimate and human ways we can bring back hope by demonstrating we can travel through the darkest places toward a more hopeful light that is still burning. As she does in Help, Thanks, Wow and her other bestselling books, Lamott explores the thorny issues of life and faith by breaking them down into managable, human-sized questions for readers to ponder, and in the process she shows how each of us can amplify life's small moments of joy by staying open to love and connection even in these dark times. As Lamott notes, "I got Medicare three days before I got hitched, which sounds like something an old person might do, which does not describe adorably ageless me." Marrying for the first time with a grown son and a grandson, Lamott explains that finding happiness with a partner isn't a function of age or beauty but of outlook and perspective. Full of the honesty, humor and humanity that have made Lamott beloved by millions of readers, this book is classic Anne Lamott -- thoughtful and comic, warm and wise -- and further proof that Lamott truly speaks to the better angels in all of us"--