The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The New York Times bestselling author of A History of God delivers the gripping, inspirational story about her own search for God."A story about becoming human, being recognized, finally recognizing oneself.... It fills the reader with hope." --The Washington Post Book World
In 1962, at age seventeen, Karen Armstrong entered a convent, eager to meet God. After seven brutally unhappy years as a nun, she left her order to pursue English literature at Oxford. But convent life had profoundly altered her, and coping with the outside world and her expiring faith proved to be excruciating. Her deep solitude and a terrifying illness-diagnosed only years later as epilepsy--marked her forever as an outsider. In her own mind she was a complete failure: as a nun, as an academic, and as a normal woman capable of intimacy. Her future seemed very much in question until she stumbled into comparative theology. What she found, in learning, thinking, and writing about other religions, was the ecstasy and transcendence she had never felt as a nun.
KAREN ARMSTRONG is the author of numerous other books on religious affairs, including The Case for God, A History of God, The Battle for God, Holy War, Islam, Buddha and The Great Transformation--and a memoir, The Spiral Staircase. Her work has been translated into 45 languages. In February 2008 she was awarded the TED Prize and began working with TED on The Charter for Compassion, created online by the general public, crafted by leading thinkers in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, as well as in Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. It was launched globally in the fall of 2009. She is currently an ambassador for the UN Alliance of Civilizations. The author lives in London, UK.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780385721271 |
| ISBN 10 | 0385721277 |
| Title | The Spiral Staircase |
| Author | Karen Armstrong |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc |
| Year published | 2005-02-22 |
| Number of pages | 336 |
| Prizes | Commended for Books for a Better Life (Inspirational Memoir) 2004 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |