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Author | Frederick Buechner |
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Language | English |
Genre | Autobiography |
Published | 1983 |
Publisher | HarperSanFrancisco |
Preceded by | The Sacred Journey |
Followed by | Telling Secrets |
Now and Then: a memoir of vocation (1983), is the second of four partial autobiographies written by Frederick Buechner. Published in 1983, the work describes the author's life from his conversion to Christianity in 1953, at the age of twenty-seven, up to his residency in Vermont at the age of fifty-seven.
Buechner introduces his second autobiographical work by narrating the years leading up to his attendance at Union Theological Seminary, New York. The author recalls the process of writing his first two novels, A Long Day's Dying and The Seasons' Difference , and a brief spell in Europe, during which he met Lewis Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Bernard Berenson, and Alice B. Toklas. [1]
Upon returning to New York, Buechner recounts his time at Union, and his encounters with Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, Martin Buber, James Muilenburg, Samuel Terrien, Wilhelm Pauck, Cyril Richardson, and Robert McAfee Brown. [2] Buechner particularly remembers the teaching style of Muilenberg: ‘Up and down the whole length of the aisle he would stride as he chanted the war songs, the taunt songs, the dirges of ancient Israel. With his body stiff, his knees bent, his arms scarecrowed far to either side, he never merely taught the Old Testament but was the Old Testament.’ [3] When Buechner met Judith, the woman who was to be his wife, it was Muilenberg who officiated their wedding: ‘[his] hands trembled so as he read the service’. [4]
Alongside his studies, Buechner also recalls the time he spent serving at a church-run ‘employment clinic’ in East Harlem, and the stories of those whom he met while working there [5] – an experience that the author memorialised in his third novel, The Return of Ansel Gibbs .
Now and Then further recounts Buechner's experiences as a chaplain and Theology teacher at the Phillips Exeter Academy, and the completion of his fourth novel, The Final Beast . Here Buechner expounds upon the place that his new-found faith had come to hold in his work as a novelist: ‘I am a Christian novelist in the same sense that somebody from Boston or Chicago is an American novelist. I must be true to my experience as a Christian as black writers to their experience as blacks or women writers to their experience as women. It is no more complicated, no more sinister than that.’ [6]
Following nine years spent at Exeter, the author then describes the relocation of his family to Vermont, where he completed his fifth novel, The Entrance to Porlock (1970). In this third and final chapter, Buechner also remembers being invited to deliver the Noble Lectures at Harvard (out of which he would publish The Alphabet of Grace ), and his conception of the character of Leo Bebb, who became the central focus of his next four books, a tetralogy titled The Book of Bebb : Lion Country (1971), Open Heart (1972), Love Feast (1974), and Treasure Hunt (1977). Finally, the author recalls his discovery of hagiography, and with it his encounter with St Godric of Finchdale, which would eventually become his tenth novel, Godric .
In Now and Then, Buechner develops the key theme that had been central to his first autobiographical work, The Sacred Journey : the concept of listening. In the final chapter he writes: ‘Listen to your life. All moments are key moments.’ [7] At the heart of this concept is the notion that ‘if God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that he speaks to us largely through what happens to us’. [8] ‘What I have done both in this book and its predecessor’, he continues, ‘is to listen back over what has happened to me [...] for the sound, above all else, of his voice.’ [8] With this theme in mind, the title for this second memoir, Now and Then, is drawn from a quote by Paul Tillich: ‘We want only to show you something we have seen and tell you something we have heard [...] that here and there in the world and now and then in ourselves is a New Creation.’ [9] Commenting upon Buechner's memoirs, scholar Dale Brown writes that the autobiographical works ‘illustrate Buechner's theory of what he calls the “sacred function of memory” – the obliteration of the artificial designations of past, present, and future in order to reinhabit and reunderstand the moments of our lives.’ [10]
Carl Frederick Buechner was an American author, Presbyterian minister, preacher, and theologian. The author of thirty-nine published books, his career spanned more than six decades and encompassed many different genres. He wrote novels, including Godric, A Long Day's Dying and The Book of Bebb, his memoirs, including The Sacred Journey, and theological works, such as Secrets in the Dark, The Magnificent Defeat, and Telling the Truth.
Godric is the tenth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. Set in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the novel tells the semi-fictionalised life story of the medieval Roman Catholic saint, Godric of Finchale. It was first published in 1980 by Atheneum, New York, and was a finalist for the 1981 Pulitzer Prize.
The Book of Bebb is a tetralogy of novels by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. Published in 1971 by Atheneum, New York, Lion Country is the first in the Book of Bebb series. It was followed by Open Heart (1972), Love Feast (1974), and Treasure Hunt (1977). In 1972 Lion Country was named a finalist in the National Book Award for Fiction. The Book of Bebb is an edited single volume edition containing the four novels, and it was published by Atheneum, New York, in 1979.
This is a list of published works by writer and theologian Frederick Buechner.
Brendan is the eleventh novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1987 by Atheneum, New York, and it won the Christianity and Literature Book Award for Belles-Lettres in the same year.
The Son of Laughter is the twelfth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. The novel was first published in 1993 by Harper, San Francisco. In the same year it was named ‘Book of the Year’ by the Conference on Christianity and Literature.
The Return of Ansel Gibbs is the third novel by the American author and theologian Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1958 by Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
The Final Beast is the fourth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1965 by Atheneum, New York.
The Entrance to Porlock is the fifth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1970 by Atheneum, New York.
Telling Secrets: a memoir (1991), is the third of four partial autobiographies written by Frederick Buechner. Published in 1991, the work considers in depth several scenes and events from the author's life, from his father’s suicide through to his time spent as a visiting professor at Wheaton College.
The Eyes of the Heart: a memoir of the lost and found (1999), is the fourth of four partial autobiographies written by Frederick Buechner. Published in 1999, the work moves between a number of vignettes from the author’s life, remembering friendships, and imagining conversations with lost family members.
The Alphabet of Grace is a collection of addresses on Christianity and faith by Frederick Buechner. It was first conceived as a trilogy of sermons, delivered at the Harvard Memorial Church in the winter of 1969. It was subsequently published by Seabury Press, NY, in 1970.
The Magnificent Defeat is a collection of meditations on Christianity and faith by Frederick Buechner. It was first conceived as a series of sermons, delivered at the Phillips Exeter Academy throughout 1959. It was subsequently published by Seabury Press, NY, in 1966. The Magnificent Defeat is Buechner’s first non-fiction publication.
The Hungering Dark is a collection of meditations on Christianity and faith by Frederick Buechner. Preceded by The Magnificent Defeat, it is the second in a series of sermon anthologies preached in 1959 during the author's time at the Phillips Exeter Academy. The Hungering Dark is Buechner's second non-fiction publication, and it was published by Seabury Press, NY, in 1968.
Wishful Thinking: a theological ABC, reissued in 1993 as Wishful Thinking: a seeker’s ABC, is a collection of meditations on faith, Christianity, and theology by Frederick Buechner. It is the first of Buechner’s lexical trilogy, which includes Peculiar Treasures (1979) and Whistling in the Dark (1988). Published in 1973 by Harper and Row, Wishful Thinking is Buechner’s fourth non-fiction work.
The Faces of Jesus: a life story is a collection of meditations by Frederick Buechner on the life and person of Jesus Christ. The work gathers and discusses a selection of artistic portrayals of Jesus, including a variety of forms, from tapestry to sculpture. Published in 1974 by Simon and Schuster, Faces of Jesus is Buechner’s fifth non-fiction work.
Telling the Truth: the Gospel as tragedy, comedy, and fairy tale, is a collection of essays by Frederick Buechner on the subject of homiletics. It was first composed for and delivered at the Yale Divinity School Lyman Beecher Lecture series in 1976. Telling the Truth was subsequently published in 1977 by HarperCollins. It is Buechner's sixth non-fiction work.
Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who's Who, is a collection of meditations on the stories of biblical figures, written by Frederick Buechner. It is the second of Buechner's lexical trilogy, which includes Wishful Thinking (1973) and Whistling in the Dark (1988). Published in 1979 by Harper and Row, Peculiar Treasures is Buechner's seventh non-fiction work.
Whistling in the Dark: a doubter's dictionary, first issued as Whistling in the Dark: an ABC theologized, is a collection of meditations on faith, Christianity, and theology by Frederick Buechner. It is the third and final instalment of Buechner's lexical trilogy, which includes Wishful Thinking (1973) and Peculiar Treasures (1979). Published in 1988 by Harper and Row, Whistling in the Dark is Buechner's ninth non-fiction work.
Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons is a collection of sermons and lectures authored by Frederick Buechner. Published in 2006 by HarperCollins, Secrets in the Dark is Buechner's fifteenth non-fiction work.