Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy

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Anne Lamott returns with a lively and funny exploration of mercy, which she defines as radical kindness to both yourself and others. Always wise and laugh-out-loud funny, Anne Lamott reminds us that "kindness towards others, beginning with myself, buys us a shot at a warm and generous heart, the greatest prize of all.” Recommended By Mary Jo S., Powells.com

From the bestselling author of Help, Thanks, Wow and Bird by Bird comes a powerful exploration of mercy, its limitless (if sometimes hidden) presence, why we ignore it, and how we can embrace it.

"Mercy is radical kindness," Anne Lamott writes in her enthralling and heartening book, Hallelujah Anyway. It’s the permission you give others — and yourself — to forgive a debt, to absolve the unabsolvable, to let go of the judgment and pain that make life so difficult.

In Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy Lamott ventures to explore where to find meaning in life. We should begin, she suggests, by "facing a great big mess, especially the great big mess of ourselves." It’s up to each of us to recognize the presence and importance of mercy everywhere — "within us and outside us, all around us" — and to use it to forge a deeper understanding of ourselves and more honest connections with each other. While that can be difficult to do, Lamott argues that it’s crucial, as "kindness towards others, beginning with myself, buys us a shot at a warm and generous heart, the greatest prize of all." 

Full of Lamott’s trademark honesty, humor and forthrightness, Hallelujah Anyway is profound and caring, funny and wise — a hopeful book of hands-on spirituality.

"Spiritually enhancing, life-affirming lessons... delivers flashes of wisdom and inspiration that resonate." Kirkus Reviews

"Some books we read for their delicious plots, but others we savor another way. Anne Lamott’s Hallelujah Anyway is one you’ll slow down to read, so exactly right are her insights. The way to feel whole, she says, is through mercy — an idea as beloved as cheese, yet so tricky when you have to apply it to annoying people. But at this exact moment, we can all agree: It’s time for kindness." Redbook

"Lamott is a superb writer. Her voice is one-of-a-kind: deft, folksy, cheerfully hostile… She is witty and funny and smart… Telling stories so personal even a distant reader can relate." The Washington Post

Anne Lamott is the New York Times bestselling author of Help, Thanks, Wow; Small Victories; Stitches; Some Assembly Required; Grace (Eventually); Plan B; Traveling Mercies; Bird by Bird; Operating Instructions, and Hallelujah Anyway. She is also the author of several novels, including Imperfect Birds and Rosie. A past recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an inductee to the California Hall of Fame, she lives in Northern California.