About the Book and Author

Now Featured in the Patheos Book Club
I Don't Want to be a Hoo-er:
Essays on Faith, Family and Foolishness
by Elizabeth Scalia

About the Book

Author Elizabeth Scalia (Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols of Everyday Life, Ave Maria Press, 2013) has written of Christian scripture: "You either believe all that stuff you say you believe, and you act accordingly, or it's all a lot of hooey and you're the hoo-er." In this compilation of essays culled from various print and online publications carrying her by-line, Scalia gives ample evidence of her struggle against hoo-erdom, in all its bare successes and flamboyant failures. Two highly personal essays, begun as long-ago blogposts, are fleshed out in this compilation, in which art, baseball, travel, resentments, political theatrics, and the beautiful pain of life all get worked through the filter of Scalia's faith. What emerges through 25 thoughtful columns is a battle between a largely optimistic heart, and a hoo-er's head that is too inclined toward cynicism. Round by round, "I Don't Want to be a Hoo-er" makes for amusing, often maddening, ever-surprising reading that will jumpstart the synapses and leave few unmoved.

About the Author

Elizabeth Scalia is a Benedictine Oblate and the author of Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols in Everyday Life (Ave Maria Press, 2013). She serves as Managing Editor of the Catholic channel at Patheos, where she blogs as The Anchoress. She is also a regular columnist at FirstThings.com and at The Catholic Answer Magazine. Elizabeth was a featured speaker at the Vatican's much-noted 2011 meeting with bloggers from around the world, and has a multi-media presence that includes contributions to NPR, the Washington Post, CBS News Online, The Guardian (UK) and contributions on various on-air panels. She is married and lives in New York.