Vanessa Zoltan has a B.A. in English literature and creative writing from Washington University in Saint Louis, an M.S. in nonprofit management from the University of Pennsylvania, and a M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School. She is the CEO and founder of Not Sorry Productions, which produces the podcasts Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, Twilight in Quarantine, and Hot & Bothered. She also runs pilgrimages and walking tours that explore sacred reading and writing.
“Praying with Jane Eyre is literary, spiritual, and
autobiographical all at once. This is a book committed to the
truths of things—from the Holocaust to personal betrayal—no matter
how hard those truths may be. . . . We can follow
[Vanessa’s] example of learning how to read as if our lives depend
on it—which I believe they do.” —Terry Tempest Williams, from
the foreword
“In these soaring, open-hearted essays, Vanessa Zoltan writes with
fierce brilliance about suffering, survival, and the kind of
meaning in life that can withstand real scrutiny.”
—John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars and The
Anthropocene Reviewed
“As an atheist, I’ve hungered for these sermons. As a reader, I’ve
longed for this exegesis. This is a book about much more than how
to pray secularly, and much more than how to read reverently. It is
a book about how to be. And it is told through the wondrous earthly
companionship of not just Jane Eyre, but the miraculous Vanessa
Zoltan.”—Lauren Sandler, author of This Is All I
Got and Righteous
“How does one create a life of meaning—not merely a sense of
purpose, but a ritual and a practice to give that purpose structure
and power—when traditional religion feels untenable? Vanessa Zoltan
destroys the boundaries between ethics and aesthetics with a
radical and beautiful idea, one that will ring true to every
passionate reader: that intentional reading can empower and shape
our lives. More than a love letter to the power of books, more than
a reinterpreting of religious practice, and much more than a
reading of Jane Eyre, Praying with Jane Eyre invites
us, in Zoltan’s accessible voice, into an intimacy with the most
vulnerable parts of ourselves, and shows us how literature can
sanctify them.”—Dara Horn, author of Eternal Life and People Love
Dead Jews
“This book will make you laugh. It will make you cry. But best of
all, it will change the way you read forever.”—Casper ter Kuile,
author of The Power of Ritual and cohost of Harry Potter and the
Sacred Text
“Praying with Jane Eyre is a readable, huggable guide to better
living, and loving, through literature—not to mention the most
affectionate portrait of grandparents that I have read in ages. And
doses of Jay Gatsby and Harry Potter besides. Who can resist?”—Mark
Oppenheimer, host, Unorthodox podcast
Ask a Question About this Product More... |