Grace Notes

So here's where I try to "review" this collection of Brian Doyle essays. These essays are sharp, roomy, poignant, commonplace, apt, wild, grandfatherly, cool, funny, woolly, eye-opening, eye-closing, hysterical, familiar, tickling. Please indulge my attempt at a Brian Doyle-esque exercise.I was genuinely moved by this collection. I had little tiny post-its to mark the essays and lines that I particularly liked...and then I realized that just about every other essay was marked. Hardly a useful exercise. I should just put a regular size Post-it on the front that says "really good stuff." Anyways. Brian Doyle has a way of writing ideas that seemed so familiar and so fresh at the same time. I could hardly choose a favorite line, but here's a really good passage:"I believe with all my hoary heart that stories save lives, and the telling and hearing of them is a holy thing, powerful far beyond our ken, sacramental, crucial, nutritious; without the sea of stories in which we swim we would wither and die; we are here for each other, to touch and be touched, to lose our tempers and beg forgiveness, to listen and to tell, to hail and farewell, to laugh and to snarl, to use words as knives and caresses, to puncture lies and to heal what is broken." (p. 145)Don't you feel that? I read that and thought, I feel that way and I have my whole life, but I've never been able to put it into words quite like that. Brian Doyle's language isn't hard to read or understand, but it's beautiful and hard to ignore. To put it in his own terminology, Brian Doyle's writing understands "the power of powerlessness." And that's why his insights were so... I don't know? I don't want to say life-changing, but refreshing and thought-provoking might describe what I'm feeling.And it just doesn't hurt that he quotes my favorite, Mary Oliver. He loves her just as much as I do. And I have a feeling that this volume will sit next to hers on the bookshelf, and when I pull hers down to read a poem or two at night, his will come down after.I recommend this book to everyone.

I love his use of lists and command of language. I read one of Doyle's novels by accident. My wife had The Plover from the library and enjoyed it. I gave it a read and became an instant fan of his work. I read every novel I could find by Doyle. I had noticed his essays in Orion and decided to pick up a collection of his essays. Again, I was blown away by his compassion, use of language, and entertaining wisdom. He has left this realm too soon, but his work can still teach, entertain, and inspire readers for years to come.

Brian Doyle's writing is full of love for life. He just died -- too young -- and I am comforted by the fact that he wrote so many books. I plan to read as many of them as I can. His sentences are gorgeous and his heart is huge. If you want to feel hopeful in terrible times, you should read Brian Doyle.

A truly beautiful collection of essays by Brian Doyle. One of my favorite books that I return to again and again to reads words of beauty, truth, and comfort.

5 star ratings are generally untrustworthy, but this one's different.Ratings that start out with a clause like this are also usually untrustworthy, but....this one's different.Doyle has a style that will engage you immediately. The intensity and sincerity in his voice is clear to the reader, without being embarrassing.Every story was published at a different time and tackles a different theme and still feel like they were all written to be so nicely lumped together into this book. Forgiveness, divorce, birth, children, marriage, God, and everything else that we can all relate to in some way or another. I'm not Catholic, but this didn't end up being important. My respect for the roots of Catholicism and "a skinny Jewish guy" has grown. I imagined reading the story "The Order In Which People Are Admitted Into Heaven" in Sunday school and either being praised or cast out for being so rational. I laughed in "Six Women" imagining the Priest who learned what he knew about love from dating and Doyle's suggestion that "maybe a better way to prepare priests is to raise the age limit and accept only men who have loved and lost and loved again."From a writer's standpoint, one can learn a lot from Doyle and I especially recommend this book to writers.This book is great if you're looking to be better at your religion, to be a more decent and interesting person, or just want to spend a few enjoyable hours laying on a hammock in your backyard like I did.

I love the picture on the front of this book! Mr. Doyle's thoughts on the Catholic church come through in this book, more than others of his that I've read. Perhaps his thoughts are like the toad, plopping along in the muck, and then looking kinda shiny and pretty when left to be just what they are. The book is a collection of observations, things going on, wading through thoughts that keep straying but coming back. It's like a collection of short stories that aren't always stories. The book left me with a feeling that I could probably like Catholics, at least if they are like Mr. Doyle: i.e. a regular person.

This is one of a few books that remain on my shelf. The world is a sadder place with the Death of Brian Doyle. What a soulful man. I have all of his books and give them to my friends.

Brian Doyle is a dynamite writer. I'd put his Mink River on a "must read" list. This book, a group of shorter pieces, has a spiritual tinge to it. It got my ration of all that growing up, and while not an agnostic or atheist found Grace Notes a bit cloying. But Doyle is a dynamite writer and he brings it to these pieces in full measure. Guess you'll have to read it and draw your own conclusions.

A very thought provoking book. I have ordered some more of Mr. Doyle's books. Too bad he has passed on... as I would be holding my breath for anything new by him.