Radical Reinvention

Starred review from June 18, 2012
Growing up, Oakes (Slanted and Enchanted) felt many a dark night of the soul, though at the time she didn’t know to call it such, and rather than turn to God, she turned into an angry, punk-rock, alterna-chick who preferred swearing and ranting over prayer. Yet now, on the cusp of midlife and all its crises, Oakes, a lecturer who teaches writing at UC Berkeley, is still swearing up a storm and taking the Lord’s name in vain, but she’s turned to God and can’t seem to look away. What’s more, she has discovered she is Catholic through and through, despite the Vatican’s politics (which she despises). This memoir tells the story of this unlikely convert—as she sees herself—in all its gory detail. Oakes doesn’t mince words or clean up her language, and doubt, frustration, and anger are frequent companions on her journey. Oakes not only treats readers to gorgeous prose, but manages to provide an overview and history of the best of the Catholic faith, without losing momentum. Fans of Lauren Winner’s Girl Meets God will be happy to meet this Catholic girl who can turn a phrase, too. Agent: Michelle Brower, Folio Literary Management.

May 15, 2012
Oakes (Writing/Univ. of California; Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture, 2009) chronicles her uneasy entry back into the Catholic Church, with plenty of F-bombs thrown in for good effect. Proud of her bad-girl persona (perhaps more past than present) and of her liberal political activism, the author tries to convince both her readers and herself why she wanted to be a Catholic again. The result is readable and engaging but not necessarily convincing. Oakes grew up in a moderately Catholic family before rebelling. However, she could not rid herself of a belief in God, and eventually she was moved to try out church again. Unfulfilled with Protestant options, she went back to what she knew. At the beginning of her spiritual journey, she was uncomfortable with her choice: "I don't want people to know I'm Catholic again because it still seems so oppositional to the rest of my life." Indeed, Oakes' main draw to Catholicism seems to be the challenge and the opportunity to be an agitator from within. She expresses feeling a lack of community until her searching led her to sympathetic priests, feminist nuns and activist laywomen. She found her place in Catholicism in such backdrops as a "pray-and-bitch" circle of women and a predominantly gay congregation. The author concludes with the story of her visit to Italy, where she found some moments of genuine religious feeling at places such as the tomb of St. Francis. Oakes' writing flows well, but it sometimes feels almost lazy (e.g., describing Juan Diego, who encountered the Virgin of Guadalupe, as "the indigenous guy") or overly caustic for the sake of her own self-image as a rebel. The author's low self-esteem and the weight of her past drag her down throughout the book and are not alleviated by her spiritual quest, which seems, in the end, more a quest for community. A somewhat intriguing but mostly uneasy faith journey.

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June 1, 2012
Oakes, a self-described rebel, with the tattoos, history of drug use, and affinity for liberal politics to back up the claim, has written her spiritual autobiography. Although raised a Catholic, she almost never attended mass as an adult. Recalling a peace she rarely found anywhere else but in church, recognizing in herself both a tendency and need to ponder the nature of creation, and admitting that being Catholic was just part of who she is, Oakes decided to rejoin the church she describes not only as a troubled, troubling institution but also as her spiritual home. Although the journey back is honestly, humorously, and irreverently recounted, more interesting is her discussion of the Catholic women she met along the way. By working to repair broken lives, find God in other people, and engender mercy and compassion, these women, Oakes contends, are part of the priestly class, and their lives offer a vision of what the church could and should be. A clarion call for an institution's radical reinvention.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)