As the obituary writer in a spectacularly beautiful but often dangerous spit of land in Alaska, Heather Lende knows something about last words and lives well lived. Now she€s distilled what she€s learned about how to live a more exhilarating and meaningful life into three words: find the good. It€s that simple--and that hard.
Quirky and profound, individual and universal, Find the Good offers up short chapters that help us unlearn the habit--and it is a habit--of seeing only the negatives. Lende reminds us that we can choose to see any event--starting a new job or being laid off from an old one, getting married or getting divorced--as an opportunity to find the good. As she says, €œWe are all writing our own obituary every day by how we live. The best news is that there€s still time for additions and revisions before it goes to press.€Â
Ever since Algonquin published her first book, the New York Times bestseller If You Lived Here, I€d Know Your Name, Heather Lende has been praised for her storytelling talent and her plainspoken wisdom. The Los Angeles Times called her €œpart Annie Dillard, part Anne Lamott,€ and that comparison has never been more apt as she gives us a fresh, positive perspective from which to view our relationships, our obligations, our priorities, our community, and our world.
An antidote to the cynicism and self-centeredness that we are bombarded with every day in the news, in our politics, and even at times in ourselves, Find the Good helps us rediscover what€s right with the world.
€œHeather Lende€s small town is populated with big hearts--she finds them on the beach, walking her granddaughters, in the stories of ordinary peoples€ lives, and knits them into unforgettable tales. Find the Good is a treasure.€ €"Jo-Ann Mapson, author of Owen€s Daughter
€œFind the Good is excellent company in unsteady times . . . Heather Lende is the kind of person you want to sit across the kitchen table from on a rainy afternoon with a bottomless cup of tea. When things go wrong, when things go right, her quiet, commonsense wisdom, self-examining frankness, and good-natured humor offer a chance to reset, renew, rebalance.€Â €"Pam Houston, author of Contents May Have Shifted
€œWith gentle humor and empathy [Lende] introduces a number of people who provide examples of how to live well . . . [Find the Good] is simple yet profound.€Â €"Booklist
€œIn this cynical world, Find the Good is a tonic, a literary wellspring, which will continue to run, and nurture, even in times of drought. What a brave and beautiful thing Heather Lende has made with this book.€ €"John Straley, Shamus Award winner and former writer laureate of Alaska
€œHeather Lende is a terrific writer and terrific company: intimate, authentic, and as quirky as any of her subjects.€ €"Marilyn Johnson, author of The Dead Beat
