Seeking Enlightenment Hat by Hat by Nevada

Barr
Background of Author

• Birth- born/raised in Yerington, NV, 1952- both parents and sister were
pilots/mechanics

• Education- theatre: UC Irvine BA Speech and Drama, MFA Acting

• Job- 18 years in entertainment & 18 months as an executive assistant

at Morgan Stanley

• Inspiration- summers working as a park ranger (incl. Michigan, Texas,

Colorado, Mississippi)…absolutely loved it!

• Start as an author

o First novel: Bittersweet, 1983- story of two lesbians who grow

strong through their relationship with each other/ settling the
frontier

o Main book series: Anna Pigeon mystery series (first is Track of the
Cat, 1993)

 Female park ranger as protagonist often investigating

murder at the national parks

 Theme of relationships and loneliness: homo- and

heterosexual

Seeking Enlightenment…Hat by Hat: A Skeptic’s Path to Religion (2004)

• Series of individual essays outlining Barr’s self reflection on her quest to

find higher truth

o 43 sections, each offering a piece of insight heavily based on her

personal experiences and reflection on those experiences

• Starts off depressed/out of work/cynical

• Eventually wanders in to an Episcopal Church- lead to truth by Father

Andrew

• “Journey from arrogance and atheism toward humility and a sense of

being part of something greater than herself. (241)”
• “a whole lot of ideologies focused on being the Chosen of God…one had
to follow an intricate series of rules...since we cannot know what
stamps will be required…we make them up (2) ”

• “surely forgiveness did not mean…denial…perhaps forgiveness knowing

that evil was done, still caring about it, but pretending not to mind.
Another possibility was knowing, caring and , rather than reeling anger
toward the doer, feeling pity (20)”

• “I’d been told I had a problem with commitment…didn’t know, or wasn’t

willing to accept- that…it’s a hell of a lot of work (205)”

• “As a law-enforcement officer it’s your job to sake shit…I no longer had
to defend my image…but could focus on handling any situation that
came into my purview (178)”

• “As a young agnostic/atheist wannabe, I took great pleasure in

dismantling others’ religious beliefs with the scalpels of logic and
ridicule. Now, when someone tries to attach my faith with those same
weapons, all I can do is…remember the words…’Faith is just that…you
just believe”…it cannot be touched by words. It just is. Or it isn’t (150)”