Editor’s note: Part of the research for my own book is to buy any book that promises to discuss life’s “meaning.” Learning other perspectives and avoiding repetition is my goal. The first chapter alone, where Lamott asks and provides her answers to life’s eternal question make the book worth reading. The book’s overall premise is that our lives are the quilt stitched together from our experiences, including such catastrophes as her designer curtains being ripped to shreds by her dog, then stitched back together by her friend. Humor and depth is a hard combination to achieve and this woman has it. It is a short and easy (if not, light) read and I recommend to all searchers.

Excerpt: “…maybe we can all agree that meaning is always going to have to do with love, and that children should not get cancer, or be shot, and that our old must be cared for. Is there really any disagreement on these points? What about when your whole world goes crazy, your body or mind is on the fritz, or your family or your government betrays you? What, then, can we agree on? Is anything always true? And if so, why did some of us not get the memo?”