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About The Hermits Of Big Sur
Review "Absolutely fascinating, gorgeously written, frequently brilliant. In her story of how an ancient monastic order found a home in California, and how the author found a home with them, Paula Huston offers us an invitation into a world that few see, but all will want to experience." James Martin, SJ, author of Learning to Pray "In The Hermits of Big Sur author Paula Huston uses her exceptional literary skills to introduce us to individuals who are hidden to us but who nevertheless pray for us constantly. Deftly, she weaves together the thousand-year history of the Camaldoli order with intimate details of monastic life at Big Sur. Above all Huston shows us the deep Christ-like community these hermits have been able to develop." Richard J. Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline and Sanctuary of the Soul "Paula Huston’s very readable history of the Camaldolese monastery at Big Sur gives a very clear picture of the challenges faced and overcome in establishing an eremitical monastery on the coast of California. She tells the story by focusing on the people involved, how they discovered monastic life and how the unique experience of each has contributed to the unfolding of the community’s charism. The result is a realistic and very human portrayal of this distinctive chapter of monastic history." Michael Casey, OCSO, author of Balaam's Donkey: Random Ruminations for Every Day of the Year "What an extraordinary gift Paula Huston’s The Hermits of Big Sur has revealed itself to be. Who would have thought a seventy-year history of a Camaldolese monastery that rose in the wilds of the California coast could turn out to be such a page-turner! Paula Huston is a truly gifted writer, as she has proven time after time with her fiction and her essays, and this book is no exception, especially because it has shaped her and in turn can shape us. There’s so much history here—world history, American history, Church history, the major movements from Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin to the opening dialogues between East and West, the aftermath of Vatican II, the worlds of Robinson Jeffers and Henry Miller, hippydom and radical feminism. And at the heart of it all, the need to find that necessary solitude and solace and true companionship which only the interior Mystery at the still point can provide." Paul Mariani, Biographer, poet, and author of Thirty Days: On Retreat with the Exercises of St. Ignatius and The Mystery of It All "The Hermits of Big Sur is a remarkable book. Meticulous in research and engaging in tone, it explores some of the most significant and turbulent moments in the history of Italy and America through the lens of the thousand-year-old Camaldolese Benedictine order in the mountains of Tuscany, and the order’s sometimes challenging relationship with its young daughter house in California. It is also an affectionate homage to the monks the author has known over the decades of making retreats there, full of her admiration for the life they lead and the wisdom they have shared with so many from their foundation over fifty years ago. More than a fascinating introduction to the rich and complex history of eremitical monasticism, this book is also an invitation to drink from monastic spirituality’s deep life-giving springs." Deborah Smith Douglas, Oblate OSB Cam, is the author of The Praying Life: Seeking God in All Things "Like a novel or a family history, with diverse characters ranging from the chemist to the guitarist, Paula Huston tells the story of the Camaldolese hermits of Big Sur. Having co-founded more than one hermitage at the same time as New Camaldoli, I can attest to the authenticity of the hermits’ struggles to survive in the wilderness; live out the age-old tension between solitude, community, and outreach; and after 900 years of harsh monastic practices, weather 'the female invasion' and other humanizing changes from Vatican II in a true spirit of 'derring-do.'" Tessa Bielecki was a co-founder of the Spir
