The Cloister Walk - Softcover

"In The Cloister Walk, persisting in [Norris's] wonderfully idiosyncratic ways, she gives us the result of an 'immersion into a liturgical world'... She is one of hisotyr's writing pilgrims but also a contemporary American one, boldly willing to forsake any number of cultural fads, trends, and preoccupations in favor of this 'walk, ' this searching expedition within herself." --The New York Times Book Review

"Norris continues to write plainspoken meditations that expand the purview of non-fiction... She writes about religion with the imagination of a poet... In reading Norris, one comse to feel like a spiritual collaborate and, when one's spirit fails, like a spiritual rebel." --Chicago Tribune

"With her lucid, luminous prose, hardheaded logic, and far-reaching metaphors, Norris has brought us the cloister at its most alive." --San Francisco Chronicle

"The Cloister Walk is a new opportunity to discover a remarkable writer with a huge, wise heart... you want to share this great discovery, giving her work as a gift-- or you simply shove a copy in the face of a friend, saying, 'Read this.'" --Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"Norris presents ample proof that holy people don't have to be starchy... If you learn anything from The Cloister Walk, it's that monks are people too. They gossip, crack jokes, fall asleep in church, suffer through depression and doubt like the rest of us.... Perhaps there's hope for spiritual life outside the cloister after all." --Newsday

A reverent study of the monastic world assesses the meaning of the cloistered life in modern times, journeying through a liturgical year to capture the relevance and spiritual significance of the religious life. Reprint. Tour.