Help - by Garret Keizer (Paperback)

About the Book

The noted "Harper's" essayist explores the paradox that we are human only by helping others--and all too human when we try to help.

From the Back Cover

In a book the San Francisco Chronicle called "unclassifiably wise" and a "masterpiece," noted Harper′s essayist Garret Keizer explores the paradox that we are human only by helping others- and all too human when we try to help.

It is the primal cry, the first word in a want ad, the last word on the tool bar of a computer screen. A song by the Beatles, a prayer to the gods, the reason Uncle Sam is pointing at you. What we get by with a little of, what we could use a bit more of, what we were only trying to do when we were so grievously misunderstood. What we′ll be perfectly fine without, thank you very much.

It makes us human. It can make us suffer. It can make us insufferable. It can make all the difference in the world. It can fall short.

"Help is like the swinging door of human experience: ′I can help!′ we exclaim and go toddling into the sunshine; ′I was no help at all,′ we mutter and go shuffling to our graves. I′m betting that the story can be happier than that . . . but I have a clearer idea now than I once did of what I′m betting against."

In his new book, Help, Garret Keizer raises the questions we ask everyday and in every relationship that matters to us. What does it mean to help? When does our help amount to hindrance? When are we getting less help-or more-than we actually want? When are we kidding ourselves in the name of helping (or of refusing to "enable") someone else?

Drawing from history, literature, firsthand interviews, and personal anecdotes, Help invites us to ponder what is at stake whenever one human being tries to assist another. From the biblical Good Samaritan to present day humanitarians, from heroic sacrifices in times of political oppression to nagging dilemmas in times of ordinary stress, Garret Keizer takes us on a journey that is at once far-ranging and never far from where we live. He reminds us that in our perpetual need for help, and in our frequent perplexities over how and when to give it, we are not alone.

Review Quotes

"[A]n exceptional, moving, provocative and ultimately uplifting book." - Washington Post Book World
It's an exhilarating ride . . . I, for one, am glad to have made the journey." - Kathleen Norris for Christian Century
"A model of honesty and self-awareness . . . a masterpiece of earned and provocative ambivalence." - San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
"[A] wide-ranging and original book, weaving a rich tapestry of ideas." - Christian Science Monitor
"This is that rare thing, a true book. Bracing, challenging and quite likely to become a classic." - Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age
"[A]n honest reflection on the joys, the frustrations, and the enormous complexity of being the helper . . . Keizer leads us to think deeply about how we interact with our neighbor who is in need and why." - Dallas Morning News
"Strong, disturbing and prophetic, stripping away political and religious pieties . . . Keizer raises important philosophical questions about altruism, writes with eloquent anger about injustice and poverty and is always adept at theological argument . . . The strength of this book is Mr. Keizer's attention to ordinary but gifted and thoughtful helpers whom he writes of with respect and gratitude . . Garret Keizer has had the courage to explore the ambivalence and complexity of the human heart. He is able to give us a book that never denies the cost of discipleship, yet offers a cup of cold water on that road between Jerusalem and Jericho." - National Catholic Reporter
"A haunting treatment that makes us reconsider our best intentions." - San Diego Union-Tribune
"His examination of Help & Humankind is essaying at its best a blessing to helpful Hannahs and doubtful Thomases alike." - Thomas Lynch, author of The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade
Full of humor, compassion, wisdom, stories, literature, and personal experiences, HELP is a beautifully written exploration - Howard Frank Mosher, author of Waiting For Teddy Williams