5.0

This book is slight under 200 pages category, and references things that happened only months ago, which is slightly jarring because it is so timely/topical. I appreciate that Brown didn't make it longer than it needed to be and timing couldn't be better for a book on true connection with self and community. Also she quotes John O'Donohue, whom I consider my patron saint, so yes, I loved this book. I cried a good deal while reading the second to last chapter, and came away understanding better why our family, which is so frugal in other areas, spends money on live music and cultural events, and keeps trying to find a church that doesn't make us crazy, even though we don't want any dogma.

I shared this quote with my son, who is politically engaged and often openly hostile to the opposition, and his reaction was so strong, he had to share it at school the next day:

“Here’s what I believe: 1. If you are offended or hurt when you hear Hillary Clinton or Maxine Waters called bitch, whore, or the c-word, you should be equally offended and hurt when you hear those same words used to describe Ivanka Trump, Kellyanne Conway, or Theresa May. 2. If you felt belittled when Hillary Clinton called Trump supporters “a basket of deplorables” then you should have felt equally concerned when Eric Trump said “Democrats aren’t even human.” 3. When the president of the United States calls women dogs or talks about grabbing pussy, we should get chills down our spine and resistance flowing through our veins. When people call the president of the United States a pig, we should reject that language regardless of our politics and demand discourse that doesn’t make people subhuman. 4. When we hear people referred to as animals or aliens, we should immediately wonder, “Is this an attempt to reduce someone’s humanity so we can get away with hurting them or denying them basic human rights?” 5. If you’re offended by a meme of Trump Photoshopped to look like Hitler, then you shouldn’t have Obama Photoshopped to look like the Joker on your Facebook feed. There is a line. It’s etched from dignity. And raging, fearful people from the right and left are crossing it at unprecedented rates every single day. We must never tolerate dehumanization—the primary instrument of violence that has been used in every genocide recorded throughout history.”