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The Believer: Encounters with Love, Death & Faith
Sarah Krasnostein
This book is about ghosts and gods and flying saucers and certainty in the absence of knowledge.
From award-winning author Sarah Krasnostein comes an exploration of the power of belief. Weaving together the stories of six extraordinary ordinary people, The Believer looks at the stories we tell ourselves to deal with the distance between the world as it is, and the world as we’d like it to be. How they can stunt us – or save us.
Some of the people you will meet believe in things most people don’t. Ghosts. UFOs. Heaven and the Devil. The literal creation of the universe in six days.
Others believe in things most people would like to. Dying with autonomy. Facing one’s own transgressions with an open heart.
In this intensely personal and gorgeously written new book Krasnostein talks with her characteristic compassion and empathy to these believers – and finds out what happens when their beliefs crash into her own.
ABA interview with Sarah Krasnostein and Loraine Peck
INTERVIEWS and REVIEWS
95b FM NZ
ABC Radio Melbourne: Mornings (2:07:54)
ABC Radio National: Life Matters
ABC Radio National: Late Night Live
ABC Radio Sydney: Focus (0:32:00)
Age/Sydney Morning Herald
Australian Book Review
Books+Publishing
Booktopia blog
Guardian
Guardian
InDaily
InDaily
Readings
Weekend Australian ($)
West Australian ($)
andThe Believer
‘A philosophical meditation on all aspects of faith and self-delusion, with the elegant phrasing of ideas that made The Trauma Cleaner such a delight.’
‘The author has the rare combination of skills that allows her to not only build enough trust and rapport with her interview subjects that they will reveal intimate details about their lives, but to also distil a person down to their essence and put that on the page in a way that is simultaneously informative, sensitive and enthralling…the true strength of The Believer is in each compellingly rendered story…Readers who liked The Trauma Cleaner or Ramona Koval’s A Letter To Layla will find much to appreciate in The Believer.’
‘Krasnostein is a master storyteller of creative non-fiction and I am in awe.’
‘Wields emotion, truth and reality with one-of-a-kind dexterity.’
‘ [A] one-of-a-kind biography.’
‘It will always be on my Top Ten List of Most Extraordinary Non-Fiction Books Ever.’
The Trauma Cleaner is a disturbing and fascinating read with a heavy, beating heart at its centre…[Krasnostein] shows how a writer can empathise and engage with a subject yet still paint a realistic portrait.’
‘This book has got me thinking far more than most. Sarah Krasnostein tells the stories of people who live in mindsets unfamiliar to her with compassion and respect… Krasnostein’s art is that she never places herself on the throne of judgment…The result is both beautiful and unpredictable. Krasnostein is neither naïve nor cynical. She is an existential adventurer.’
‘[T]ranscendent, expansive writing that does the thing that many writers strive for but only few achieve: to show us humanity in clear and compassionate detail, to deepen our understanding of it and to reveal the mysterious and myriad ways in which we are all connected. It is nothing short of astounding!’
‘Krasnostein writes beautifully, and emerges as a thoughtful and compassionate observer…The Believer is, in many ways, my favourite kind of book: one that requires a little extra attention and engagement, calling on the reader as an active participant in its project of making meaning…The result is a meditative and intensely rewarding reading experience, the impact of which lingers long after the final page.’
‘Sarah Krasnostein, who blew us all away with her fantastic book The Trauma Cleaner brings her inquisitive nature and empathetic way with people to her new book The Believer…By seeking such disparate subjects, Krasnostein has woven the threads of their stories, and their very different belief systems, into a tapestry that is rich with life, love and stories. I expect this will be running off the shelves, and deservedly so.’
‘[Sarah Krasnostein] listens and records and keeps going back for more until she has built up a picture, complete with all the subtleties that human emotion, faith and intellect offer…there is no judgement here, just the healthy scepticism of an inquiring mind willing to listen, even when the encounters make her uncomfortable or challenge her own theories and convictions.’
‘Krasnostein’s writing is lyrical and stylish, and imaginative in a way that often feels invigorating…The Believer is a fascinating book, and one that asks big questions – about connectedness and separation, certainly, but also about love and grief, resilience and faith, and all the ways in which we situate ourselves within the world. And it is informed always by a sprawling curiosity and deep humanity, which make it an affirming, and deeply moving read.’
‘A fascinating journey, with an erudite, compulsively reflective companion.’
‘Fans of Krasnostein’s first book, The Trauma Cleaner (2017), will find much to admire in her second: her curiosity, her even hand, her focus not on people’s coherence but on their contradictions, her lateral thinking…Krasnostein’s narrative voice – a blend of insight, authenticity, and journalistic skill – is like a slow-cooked Shabbat cholent, rich and wholesome, every flavour running into the other.’
‘A tender observation of humanity and the unanswerable questions we ask…The joy and discovery of this book, and in life, is in the asking.’
