Synopses & Reviews
A religionless child of the 1970s and of divorce plunges into the storied concept of spiritual calling to better understand her father and her culture.
At the first revelation that her father, a sixtyish university professor, wants to become an Episcopal priest, Minna Proctor is flummoxed. She neither encourages nor disparages him because she simply doesnt know what it means. Brought up primarily by her mother in a household without any religious expression or guidance, Proctor was surprised to learn that her unconventionally charming, intellectual father had a religious life, and what's more, a higher calling. When he is summarily turned away, Proctor delves into the byzantine discernment process that rejected her father from the priesthood and the pivotal notion of calling. Based on lengthy conversations with her father, interviews with clergy and religious scholars, and readings of classic faith narratives from Augustine to Simone Weil, Do You Hear What I Hear? is a broad-minded and fascinating exploration of a very human phenomenon in the light of cultural shifts over the last three decades.
Review
"[A] thoughtful debut....Intelligent and intellectually provocative, though also respectful: a notable example of fine writing on religion." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
In this memoir of her father's quest to become an Episcopal priest, Proctor also examines her own religious background, offering an extended personal essay on the idea of calling, dissecting it for a whole generation who came of age without the language of religion to guide them culturally or spiritually.
About the Author
Minna Proctor is an essayist, magazine editor, and award-winning translator. Her writing has appeared in Bookforum, The Nation, Aperture, and The New York Observer. She is executive editor of Colors magazine. This is her first book.