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Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age

Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age

by Katherine May

Riverhead Books ·2023 ·212 pages
Maybe Someday
Maybe Someday
I Index
44/99
Top of the Pile

78/99

Critics' Rating Index

Bottom of the Pile

11/99

Readers' Rating Index

n/a

Scholars' Citation Index

34/99

Volume of Reviews

90/99

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About This Book

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Wintering, an invitation to rediscover the feelings of awe and wonder available to us all. Many of us feel trapped in a grind of constant change: rolling news cycles, the chatter of social media, our families split along partisan lines. We feel fearful and tired, on edge in our bodies, not quite knowing what has us perpetually depleted. For Katherine May, this low hum of fatigue and anxiety made her wonder what she was missing. Could there be a different way to relate to the world, one that would allow her to feel more rested and at ease, even as seismic changes unfold on the planet? Might there be a way for all of us to move through life with curiosity and tenderness, sensitized to the subtle magic all around? In Enchantment, May invites the reader to come with her on a journey to reawaken our innate sense of wonder and awe. With humor, candor, and warmth, she shares stories of her own struggles with work, family, and the aftereffects of pandemic, particularly feelings of overwhelm as the world rushes to reopen. Craving a different way to live, May begins to explore the restorative properties of the natural world, moving through the elements of earth, water, fire, and air and identifying the quiet traces of magic that can be found only when we look for them. Through deliberate attention and ritual, she unearths the potency and nourishment that come from quiet reconnection with our immediate environment. Blending lyricism and storytelling, sensitivity and empathy, Enchantment invites each of us to open the door to human experience in all its sensual complexity, and to find the beauty waiting for us there.


Reviews

"May is no dilettante and these are not hobbies; she is thoughtful and serious in her approach to experiencing the natural world in order to get back on her footing."

Laurie Hertzel· The Minneapolis Star Tribune Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"May's pursuit of enchantment will resonate with anyone feeling burned out or disconnected."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Near the Top

"May's prose reaches for the heavens as she describes what she is searching for: 'the chance to merge into the wild drift of the world, to feel overcome, to enter into its weft so completely that sometimes I can forget myself.' Fellow seekers will be enchanted."

Heller McAlpin· The Christian Science Monitor Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Though May's search for enchantment seems perhaps better suited to the English landscape, with its fairy tale-like ancient sites and villages, than to our American suburban sprawl, Enchantment offers a lovely, meditative way to begin another tumultuous year."

Sarah McCraw Crow· BookPage Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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