The Eyes of the Heart: A Memoir of the Lost and Found

by Frederick Buechner

Book Overview

From critically acclaimed author and Pulitzer Prize runner-up Frederick Buechner comes another powerfully honest memoir, The Eyes of the Heart. Full of poinant insights into his most personal relationships, this moving account traces how the author was shaped as much by his family's secrets as by its celebrations.Within the innermost chambers of his consciousness, Buechner, in his characteristically self-searching style, explores the mysteries...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0062516396
• ISBN13: 9780062516398
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A beautiful book

The Eyes of the Heart is a beautiful book--gentle, hopeful, honest. At a time when so many groups and individuals are screaming at us that they have all the answers to our deepest questions, Mr. Buechner quietly surveys his life for glimmers and glimpses of hope ("again and again over the years I have experienced holiness...as a living, healing, saving presence in my life"). The screamers' "answers" are founded in fear. Mr. Buechner's are clothed in hope and peace.

The Awesome Brightness of the Depths of the Soul

Somewhere at the very bottom of your soul, if you are very patient and vulnerable and humble, the eyes of your heart can eventually see the actual substance of faith, friendship, and fate. Our longing to know ultimately, beyond the thin veneer of our time-bound realities, is the final quest of the soul, to express gratitude in the most profound sense. Frederick Buechner illuminates the essence of meaning with exquisite care.

I need to speak a word for the beauty of this book

I have been a fan of Mr. Buechner's for a long time and his writings have touched me very deeply. This book was read at a crucial time in my life when my mother was not well. It means more to me than I can say, now that mom is with the Lord in heaven. Mr. Buechner has always touched my heart, but the poignancy of his writing affected me deeply. Just wanted to drop my 5 stars in for this book, seeing how some reviewers didn't value it that much. To me, it is one of his best books. I treasure it.

Great for fans; not a good Buechner intro

Fans of Frederick Buechner's work will want to read this novel for the depth of understanding he provides regarding his relationships with his family and his appreciation of the family history, but persons who have not read his other memoirs (especially Sacred Journey, but also Now and Then, Telling Secrets, and the Longing for Home) will want to start with them to get a better introduction to Buechner's life. It is, though, a great resource for understanding the inspirations in his life, and his trademark style shines well.

"Must" reading for all Frederick Buechner fans!

The Eyes Of The Heart: A Memoir Of The Lost And Found contains biographical revelations about the notable people who touched the life and family of Pulitzer-nominated writer Frederick Buechner. Included among that number was "a little oddball named Truman Capote" in grammar school, Clara Barton and Karl Barth. Buechner also writes of his only sibling's death while composing this memoir, his long friendship with the late James Merrill, correspondence with his mother concerning his belief in an afterlife, the authors who most influenced him, the meaning of his personal library, and his lifelong quest to determine "if it is true about God". Buechner shares a poem addressed to his grandchildren, considers his family's many tragic deaths, and much more. The Eyes Of The Heart is "must" reading for all Buechner fans as it depicts his personal journey toward an understanding of himself, the world, and the presence of grace in an often graceless world.