Window Shopping for God - by Deborah Kimmett (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Window Shopping for God is a memoir by your average people-pleasing, meaning-of-life-seeking, downward-facing-dog-posing stand-up comedian.

Addiction, birth, death, Catholics, Buddhists, witches, therapists, family, friends, this book has it all...read about Deborah's search for a belief system, the meaning of life and good scones. --Colin Mochrie, star of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

*INDIES Book of the Year Award Finalist

Comedian Deborah Kimmett has worshipped a lot of deities. She has danced with witches, whirled with Sufis and explored the Power of Now like there was no tomorrow. And she has always looked for signs.

So in 2014, when a sidewalk preacher calls on her to repent, she believes she must right her relationship with her estranged brother. Over the next few months, they create a bond hastened along by his terminal cancer diagnosis--but as he dies, losing her sibling uses all her spiritual Air Miles, and she's confronting her addictions again, with no God to call her own. With nothing left to give and no one left to fix, Kimmett knows she needs to find new meaning in life. But the old gods just don't seem to be listening.

Window Shopping for God is the story of Kimmett's lifelong flip through the catalog of beliefs--from her teen years, when a near-death experience gave her a new, less Catholic perspective, to her struggles with addiction and mental health that led her in and out of faith--and her search, as a woman in her sixties, for meaning that could finally plant her on firmer ground. Unflinchingly honest and wildly funny, Kimmett's writing takes us down the serpentine routes we travel in our search for certainty, and the more familiar paths that bring us back to ourselves.

Review Quotes

"Window Shopping for God is a mesmerizing book of unflinching honesty, poignancy and yes, the trademark Kimmett hilarity. Addiction, birth, death, Catholics, Buddhists, witches, therapists, family, friends, this book has it all. Please read about Deborah's search for a belief system, the meaning of life and good scones. You won't be sorry." --Colin Mochrie, star of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

"Window Shopping for God is a fun page-turner of a book. An irreverent, poignant, utterly readable and sometimes hysterical look at the dark, disturbing but mostly hilarious moments in Deborah Kimmett's life." --Mary Walsh, comedian and co-star of CBC's This Hour has 22 Minutes

"With this bold and honest story, Deborah Kimmett's unique voice is a beacon in today's society where women of a certain age are rarely seen, let alone heard. Honesty and comedy make for a powerful combination. As we say in the business, know your audience. Deborah not only knows her audience but she's captured us brilliantly." --Tracy L. Rideout, Former Executive Producer, CBC Radio Comedy

"As moving as it is hilarious, Deborah Kimmett's memoir lays bare the life of a Second City comic. She revels in onstage triumphs and gets abruptly fired, dates far too many musicians, battles alcoholism, finds sobriety and lurches into motherhood by birthing two babies in a year, one of them achingly premature. All the while, Kimmett is looking for God, and we're with her on every step of her rowdy and riveting quest." --Lesley Krueger, author of Far Creek Road

"Poignant, vulnerable, and above all, hilarious. Deborah Kimmett walks us through moments big and small in her life with honesty, self-deprecation and a little bit of side-eye. Her ability to make us laugh during some of the hard times in her life might make it easier for us to revisit some of our own hard times with a new perspective that allows for a little more grace and compassion for ourselves and the people around us. Reading Window Shopping for God will make you want to sit down with Deb and wax philosophical over a cappuccino...and then make fun of people who wax philosophical." --Allison Dore, host of The Breakdown (SiriusXM) and founder of Howl & Roar Records

"Window Shopping for God feels like finding a new friend. It made me cry because I was laughing so hard, and sometimes it just made me cry, in a good way. You'll love this book if you're a recovering Catholic; struggled with addiction; had an undiagnosed brain injury; lost a loved one; worked in comedy; been in therapy; are afraid to start therapy; are a therapist; been a mother; had a mother; had a dog; searched for something called God...what the hell, you'll love this book." --Kate Story, Governor General's Literary Award finalist and theatre artist

"A hilarious, poignant and moving memoir from a very funny lady. Window Shopping for God is a must-read for anyone who has ever found themselves searching for meaning, only to discover it hiding in plain sight. I couldn't put it down, and I laughed so hard I cried. This is one of those books that will make people ask, "What ARE you reading " I highly recommend this book." --Colette Baron-Reid, author, educator and artist

"A remarkable book, by a remarkable woman. Window Shopping for God will take you on an emotional rollercoaster that ricochets between hilarity and empathy. It is truly heartwarming." --David Brady, Film & Television Producer"Searingly, brutally and hilariously honest!! A beautifully written bittersweet journey celebrating the triumph of spirit. A remarkable read." --Ron James, comedian and bestselling author of All Over the Map: Rambles and Ruminations from the Canadian Road

"If you're looking for God, you might not find what you're looking for in the pages of this book. But if you're looking to tag along for an uproarious spiritual journey of self-revelation, forgiveness and transcendence--wherein the line between truth and memory and outright invention is as inscrutable as an act of divine intervention--this is the book for you. Window Shopping for God is a daring, innovative and side-splitting debut." --Joel Thomas Hynes, Governor General's Award-winning author