Celebrating Time Alone: Stories Of Splendid Solitude
by Lionel Fisher
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lionel FisherEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-06
ISBN: 1582700494
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Atria Books/Beyond Words
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9781582700496
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Celebrating Time Alone: Stories Of Splendid Solitude
Book Review: Authentic Lives, Burnished by Solitude
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a fascinating account of lives immersed in solitude--some by choice and some by life's exigencies (estrangement, divorce, illness, death, and burnout).
Author Lionel Fisher uses his own six-year stint of chosen solitude on a remote Pacific Northwest beach to investigate and report on what being alone weaves into the amplitude of one's life, whether that aloneness is desired or dreaded.
In this book we meet souls like Ed Sorenson, who despite advanced degrees, lives alone and works as a night security guard in an office building as he has for fourteen years. Sorenson said he had two requirements for work: One was that he would not have to deal with people. The other was that he could read, sleep, and "zone out" at work.
Jane Hamlin, a sixty-one year old grandmother reports on her life alone, "I follow my heart, not my head--my feelings, not my thoughts. I am drawn to the simplest pleasures--geese winging across the changing sky, raindrops on roses, the sound of my children's voices. I melt with the snow and play with frisking dogs."
Roy Morris, a buttoned-down corporate communications director, seemed to have his life down pat until he found himself afraid to get on a freeway lest he not be able to get off. He quit his job, grew a beard and spent six months listening to music.
While it in no way takes anything away from this book, I think the subtitle of "stories of splendid solitude" is something of a misnomer. Another famous solitaire, May Sarton, warned us that solitude was not all exaltation. It sometimes brings on loneliness, doubt, and intense self recrimination. And I think Fisher's account reflects that. Perhaps a better subtitle would have been "stories of rich solitude."
Nevertheless, this is a deeply rewarding volume to read. I found myself reading a section and taking time to stop and think about it. That's always a sign for me that I am being nourished by what I'm reading.
Society is ambivalent toward those who choose to be alone, regarding them as eccentric or even damaged. M.F.K. Fisher (no relation to this author) once wrote that one had to become ruthless to carve out time alone. Indeed, some of those featured in this book seem to be having a breakdown while others are having a breakthrough. But I greatly appreciated Fisher's contribution to understanding what happens when, for whatever reasons, we return to ourselves.
Summary of Celebrating Time Alone: Stories Of Splendid Solitude
For six years, Lionel Fisher lived by himself on a remote Pacific Northwest beach, where he had ample time to reflect on how to use solitude to become a happier, more fulfilled person. In a writing style at once eloquent and down to earth, Fisher interweaves his own experiences with other people?s real-life stories to affirm the life-changing benefits of being alone.Happiness Books
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