Synopses & Reviews
Rage, resentment, envy, jealousy, and hatred— these emotions seem to dominate our times. They rule our highways, our workplaces, our homes, and our hearts.
In this provocative book of essays, writer Garret Keizer considers anger in all its baffling forms. Poignantly aware of his own temper, and of his ties to a religion that glorifies meekness, the author looks at anger as a paradox in our struggle to remain human in the midst of an infuriating world. Interweaving personal anecdotes, mythological stories, sacred texts, and Keizer's insightful observations, The Enigma of Anger will prove a welcome companion for anyone who has ever wrestled with wrath-or wished to make better use of it.
From the teachings of Buddha to the politics of a small town, from the tragedy of Willy Loman to the casual indignities of a parking lot, this book finds food for thought in as many places as anger finds us. Each chapter raises a number of questions from the most ordinary to the most profound: What should we teach our children about anger? When is anger a mark of privilege? When is anger a sign of fear? How do we deal with our anger at God or with the terrible image of God's anger at human beings?
The Enigma of Anger dares to take an unflinching look not only at anger's dangerous side but also at its important role in our ongoing quest for justice and peace.
Review
"I am a descendant of angry men," Episcopal priest Keizer tells readers at the outset of this wise and beautiful reflection on anger. With that, we are lured into a book that is both intensely personal and achingly universal, for Keizer's confessions of and ruminations about his own anger will strike a chord with many a reader. This memoirish and erudite study is best read as apology in both senses of the word: a request for forgiveness for unwarranted anger and a defense of anger as something that has a legitimate place in the Christian life. Keizer addresses righteous anger at social injustices, domestic anger toward family members, anger within local parishes and anger that defensively masks harder feelings like grief. One of the most original and invigorating chapters tackles gender. Keizer suggests, ingeniously, that one of the reasons men and women deal with anger differently is that "traditional 'women's work' serves as an antidote to the forces that make men enraged." The book is deeply Christian, suffused with images of crucifixion, Holy Eucharist and the Sermon on the Mount-- but it is hardly parochial, and practitioners of other faiths will find capacious truths in Keizer's perfectly particular reflections. The book is distinguished, above all, by its prose. What might have been merely a spiritual "how-to" on anger management is transformed into a literary achievement by Keizer's way with words, from the opening description of a sugar maple tree to the concluding ode to Samuel Johnson. (Aug.)
Forecast: Keizer's writing will particularly appeal to the more literary segments of the religious market, as well as the ABA audience. Harper's magazine plans both a review and a feature story, and serials will appear in Books and Culture and Christian Century. (Publishers Weekly, August 12, 2002)
Review
"It is no small irony that Garret Keizer's essay on anger is so thoughtful and graceful. Here is writing that triumphs over an emotion that otherwise, so often, defeats reason and frustrates love." —Richard Rodriguez, author,
Brown"In the Enigma of Anger Garret Keizer offers a passionate and profound meditation on the nature of a greatly maligned emotion, illustrating in scripture, history, literature and his own life experiences its intensity and variety as well as its practical necessity for justice and change. This is a splendid book." —Ron Hansen, author, A Stay Against Confusion
"The Enigma of Anger is a thoughtful, principled, and honest interrogation of a disquieting subject. Keizer sensitively balances personal self-examination with a wide range of cases drawn from culture, politics, and daily life, to draw a complex assessment of anger, his and others'. The result is useful and humane." —Phillip Lopate, author, Portrait of My Body
"Garret Keizer's The Enigma of Anger is a highly entertaining and illuminating examination not just of a 'sometimes deadly sin' but of his wonderfully fascinating life as a husband, son, teacher, clergyman, neighbor, and friend. In the end, it is both a timely book about the uses-good and otherwise-of anger, and about what it truly means to be human, by one of the finest and most courageous writers at work in America today." —Howard Frank Mosher, author, The Fall of the Year
"This book is clearly a masterpiece." —Noel Perrin, author, Giving Up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the Sword
"There is enough edginess in this book on anger to convince you that Garrett Keizer knows what he is talking about; there is also enough grace to make you think about anger-both human and divine-in a whole new way. If you want to learn how God's love entails God's wrath or even how your own anger may become a source off deep revelation, then read this book." — Barbara Brown Taylor, author, When God Is Silent
RELIGION
Synopsis
A Vermont minister takes on anger as an inescapable yet paradoxical part of human lives and views the cluster of emotions and associations surrounding it.
Synopsis
Writer Garret Keizer explores the complex nature of anger in this beautifully written, poignant, and always provocative collection of essays. His examination of the paradoxes of anger abounds with personal anecdotes, quotes from sacred texts, stories from literature, and generous doses of acerbic humor. The Enigma of Anger invites us to look more deeply into our anger and the anger of others.
Synopsis
Rage, resentment, envy, jealousy, and hatred— these emotions seem to dominate our times. They rule our highways, our workplaces, our homes, and our hearts.
In this provocative book of essays, writer Garret Keizer considers anger in all its baffling forms. Poignantly aware of his own temper, and of his ties to a religion that glorifies meekness, the author looks at anger as a paradox in our struggle to remain human in the midst of an infuriating world. Interweaving personal anecdotes, mythological stories, sacred texts, and Keizer's insightful observations, The Enigma of Anger will prove a welcome companion for anyone who has ever wrestled with wrath-or wished to make better use of it.
About the Author
Garret Keizer is the Episcopal priest of a small rural parish and a former high school English teacher as well as the author of God of Beer, No Place But Here, and the critically acclaimed A Dresser of Sycamore Trees. His work also appears in The Christian Century and Harper's. He lives in northeastern Vermont with his wife and daughter.
Table of Contents
Preface xi
ANGER IN THE LORD
Where I Come From 5
The Wrath of God 15
Christ the Tiger 25
The Deadly Sin 39
Even in the Desert 55
ANGER IN THE HEAD
Anger as Mentality 69
Anger as Fear 81
Anger as Privilege 97
Anger as Grief 111
Anger as Grace 125
ANGER IN THE HOUSE
The Chronic Angers of the House 137
Angry Men: Agamemnon and Saul, Michael Henchard and Wade Ward 149
Angry Women: Clytemnestra and Boudica, Medea and Sethe 167
Anger and Children 185
Domestic Revolution 197
ANGER IN THE CHURCH
They That Are Sick 211
Passion Plays 225
Forgiveness 237
Loving the Enemy 251
Anger at God 267
ANGER IN THE WORLD
Work 283
Words 301
Venturing Out 317
Napoleon's Test 331
Someday You Will 351
The Author 363