The Eyes of the Heart - by Frederick Buechner (Paperback)

About the Book

The author of "The Sacred Journey", his affecting memoir, revisits the incidents that made his previous memoirs so haunting, enhancing them with the perspective he has gained in his later years, bred by the maturity that comes fro a lifetime of exploring his faith through writing.

Book Synopsis

From critically acclaimed author and Pulitzer Prize runner-up Frederick Buechner comes another powerfully honest memoir, The Eyes of the Heart. Full of poinant insights into his most personal relationships, this moving account traces how the author was shaped as much by his family's secrets as by its celebrations.Within the innermost chambers of his consciousness, Buechner, in his characteristically self-searching style, explores the mysteries and truths behind his deepest connections to family, friends, and mentors. Extraordinarily moving, this memoir follows not chronology but the converging paths of Buechner's imagination and memory.

Buechner invites us into his library-his own Magic Kingdom, Surrounded by his beloved books and treasures, we discover how they serve as the gateway to Buechner's mind and heart. He draws the reader into his recollections, moving seamlessly from reminiscence to contemplation. Buechner recounts events such as the tragic suicide of his father and its continual fallout on his life, intimate and little-known details about his deep friendship with the late poet James Merrill, and his ongoing struggle to understand the complexities of his relationship to his mother.

This cast of characters comprised of Buechner's relatives and loved ones is brought to vibrant life by his peerless writing and capacity to probe the depths of his own consciousness. Buechner visits his past with an honest eye and a heart open to the most painful and life-altering of realizations. heartbreaking and enlightening, The Eyes of the Heart is a treasure for any who have ever pondered the meaning and mystery of their own past.

As "one of our finest writers," according to author Annie Dillard, Frederick Buechner provides yet another chapter in the tale of his life in this gripping memoir tracing the complicated roots and path of his inner life and family, with their multitude of intersections." The Eyes of the Heart stands as a touching testimonial to the significance of kinship to the author as well as to the legions of readers who have come to regard him as one of their own.

Review Quotes

"Frederick Buechner knows better than anyone that we are such stuff as dreams are made on. He is a dreamer who is fiercely honest and unsentimental and yet manages the magic of mediating hope by being intensely personal and compassionately universal at the same time. Deeply moving, the book draws the reader into a world of tenderness, forgiveness, and hope." -- Alan Jones, dean of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, author of "The Soul's Journey"Profound, beautiful, wrenching at times, and unassumingly wise--"The Eyes of the Heart" will be one of my book treasures. I will probably read it once a year, and I suspect many other Buechner lovers will do likewise. I recommend it to everyone. It has the feel already of a classic."-- Gail Godwin, author of "Evensong"Frederick Buechner is one of my favorite writers. "The Eyes of the Heart is beautiful and wise, full of insight, charm, and tenderness."-- Anne Lamott, author of "Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith""How beautifully written is this thin volume, above and apart from the current of our times and deeply within the current of the truth. It is the author's remarkable genius for the truth that gives his deceptively simple memoir the heart and soul of a great book."-- Mark Helprin, author of "Winter's Tale"It's a splendid book, a genuinely spiritual memoir which avoids the lugubrious and the sentimental but invites the reader into a level most other memoirs do not. He demonstrates a capacity to cope with tragedy that will be immensely helpful to other people when faced with similar woundings." -- Harvey Cox, Thomas Professor of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School, and the author of "Fire from Heaven"In this deeply moving memoir, filledwith mortality, gratitude, and joy, Buechner invites us to see (as he has seen) with the eyes of the heart."-- Marcus J. Borg, author of "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time"Old fans and new readers alike will be delighted with Pulitzer Prize nominated Frederick Buechner's latest book the "Eyes of the Heart. In this extraordinary moving and beautifully written memoir, Buechner reflects on life, faith, freindship, and family. Though very personal, Buechner's story is universal and his viewpoint optimistic. The poignant insightful work is sure to resonate in the heart of every reader."-- Helen Harrison, "Bookpage.com"An impressive addition to Buechner's oeuvre, which includes over 30 critically acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction."-- "Library Journal"It is this sense of hope that pervades the book, hope in life and in the hereafter. With humility, empathy, and honesty, Buechner invites us to see life, and death, with the 20/20 vision offered by the eyes of the heart."-- "Boston Globe"?Old friends and new readers alike will be delighted with Pulitzer Prize nominee Frederick Buechner's latest book. . . .In this extraordinarily moving and beautifully written memoir, Buechner reflects on life, faith, friendship, and family. He speqaks with the ghosts of those he has loved and lost to help make sense of his life and of ?whatever life may lay beyond this one.'?--"BookPage?These memoirs offer illuminating glimpses into how the writer aquired and nurtured his gift for transmuting the subtlest spiritual stirrings into narrative art.?--"Booklist