The Wonder Paradox

Embracing the Weirdness of Existence and the Poetry of Our Lives

By: Jennifer Michael Hecht

Narrated by: Gail Shalan

Religion once formed the rhythms and structures of society: marking time with calendars, carving out space for contemplation, creating connection, reinforcing legacy and morality. Now, for many, religion no longer runs the show. So where shall we find our magic? How do we celebrate milestones? Which texts can focus our attention but still offer space for inquiry, communion, and the chance to dwell for a dazzling instant in what can’t be said?

The answer, Jennifer Michael Hecht—the historian, poet, and bestselling author of Doubt—tells us, is poetry. In twenty chapters built from years of questions and conversation with those looking for an authentic and meaningful life, Hecht offers ways to excavate the useful aspects of tradition and to replace what no longer feels true.

Through cultures and poetic wisdom from around the world—Sappho, Rumi, Shakespeare, Issa, Tagore, Frost, Szymborska, Angelou, and others—she blends literary criticism with spiritual guidance rooted in the everyday.

Linking our needs to particular poems, she helps us better understand those needs, ourselves, and poetry. Our capacity for wonder is one of the greatest joys of being human; The Wonder Paradox celebrates that instinct and that yearning. Like Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, it promises to inspire generations.

©2022 Jennifer Michael Hecht (P)2022 Dreamscape Media

Brilliant concepts, exquisitely written

I love the idea that, even if you do not believe in God, not having religious traditions to celebrate, big life, events and holidays can seem strange. I love her concepts of inventing your own rules for celebrating. I loved, listening to her thought process while she interpreted poetry.

Really slow with low entertainment.

Not funny. Not witty. Not insightful. Oh but the reviews require fifteen words. Like the author, much more than needed.