A Book of Uncommon Prayer

A BOOK OF UNCOMMON PRAYER at New Orleans Book Festival

January 12, 2023November 3, 2015

I’m looking forward to talking about A BOOK OF UNCOMMON PRAYER at the New Orleans Book Festival this Saturday, November 7. I’ll be on at 1:00-1:30 in Tent 2 at the Big Lake. Come find me!

A BOOK OF UNCOMMON PRAYER is an anthology of everyday invocations by 64 authors, from Outpost19 Press of San Francisco. Contributors include Wendy Brenner, Nic Brown, Jaime Clarke, Clyde Edgerton, Bob Hicok, Catherine Lacey, J. Robert Lennon, Rick Moody, Dawn Raffel, and Matthew Vollmer (who also edited). My two pieces are “For Aging Rock Stars” and “For a Teenage Girl Embarking Upon a Weeklong Carnival Cruise with her Parents.”

Susan Larson, of WWNO’s The Reading Life, says, “This book is AMAZING—moving and witty and sweet and sometimes even shocking—a little bit of everything we pray for in our private moments.”

The Reading Life with Susan Larson, WWNO-New Orleans

January 12, 2023June 24, 2015

Here’s a link to my interview with Susan Larson, of WWNO’s “The Reading Life,” about our New Orleans launch of A BOOK OF UNCOMMON PRAYER last week. I come in halfway through and then read from one of my pieces in the book, “For Aging Rock Stars.”

(Or so I’m told. To be honest, I haven’t listened to this yet because I’m afraid of how I might sound.)

A Book of Uncommon Prayer, No. 3

January 12, 2023June 9, 2015

Great reviews for A BOOK OF UNCOMMON PRAYER, an anthology of everyday invocations by 64 authors, out now from Outpost19, San Francisco.

I’ve got two pieces in the collection, “For Aging Rock Stars” and “For a Teenage Girl Embarking Upon a Weeklong Carnival Cruise with Her Parents.”

“Editor Matthew Vollmer strips away the bylines of this truly exceptional gathering of authors (credits are given at the back of the book) and allows the power of the pieces to do all the heavy lifting, clear of accreditation. Throughout, the writing is frequently poetic and beautiful, circling back often to stories of parents seeking kindness and protection for their children as they mature and move through life. Perhaps the greatest success of this anthology is its ability to remind us that, despite our subjective dogmas or lack thereof, there is an ever-present mystery sewn into life, whether we call it god or science, and we are all part of a grand design worthy of contemplation and reverence.” – Mel Bosworth at Small Press Review

“This book is AMAZING–moving and witty and sweet and sometimes even shocking–a little bit of everything we pray for in our private moments.” – Susan Larson, The Reading Life WWNO, New Orleans

And here’s the cool book video again:

A Book of Uncommon Prayer from Outpost19 Books on Vimeo.

A Book of Uncommon Prayer, No. 2

January 12, 2023April 27, 2015

Official release date for A BOOK OF UNCOMMON PRAYER is May 1, but you can get it now-Now!-online or from your favorite bookseller.

Here’s a sample selection, and then below are some direct links to the book, to make it way easy for you.

POST-GAME-DAY BLESSING

Bless the black g-string,
abandoned on the sidewalk
beside a green Gingko
sapling on Lee Street.
Bless the girl who
shimmied out of it
before dawn, drunk
on Curaçao or Triple
Sec or Mike’s Hard
Lemonade. Drunk
on lust and early autumn
and our team’s unexpected
win over Georgia Tech.
Bless our team, all defense,
no offense. Bless everyone
who must have been
downtown last night
with their car flags and
war whoops, mesh jerseys
and micro-minis. Bless
our star quarterback, on fire
with a 14-3 halftime lead.
We are on the first grade
class walking trip to the
library so everyone can
get their own cards. I am
chaperone, which means
herding kids out of traffic,
back over the curb. Bless
the curb, and the kids who
use it as a balance beam.
Bless the magical book drop.
Bless the girl with knotted
hair who tries to stuff orange
leaves into the slot. And
bless the librarian, too, who
reads a book, loudly, clearly,
to everyone about someone
reading a spooky book. Bless
the meta-story, and the mass
of first graders, descending
on the stacks like locusts.
Bless the red solo cups
on the return trip
congregating like plastic
flames, like oversized
maraschino cherries on
the early-morning lawns
of Phi Delt, Sig Ep,
any dilapidated white
house with a porch
couch on East Roanoke
Street. Bless the empty
bottles of PBR knocked
on their sides, mouths
open in wondrous O’s.
O rushing yards. O Bud
Light Lime in your crushed
cardboard case resting
on the elementary school
lawn. Bless my son and
his friend Major, who look
past the blue Trojan wrapper
on Jackson Street, the flattened
Miller Lite can on Bennett,
to the blue butterfly,
to the giant mushroom
blooming in the corner
of someone’s yard. It looks
like a piece of meat, says
my son. Or a tree stump,
says Major, matter-of-factly.
It is a mushroom worth
blessing. And Bless our team
for escaping Bobby Dodd Stadium
with a 17-10 win. Bless us for
being able to hold on despite
the onslaught.

– Erika Meitner

AVAILABLE ONLINE AT

A Book of Uncommon Prayer

January 12, 2023April 5, 2015

I’m proud to have a couple of pieces in “A Book of Uncommon Prayer,” out May 1 with Outpost19 Books. Proceeds go to 826 Valencia. It’s good!

A Book of Uncommon Prayer from Outpost19 Books on Vimeo.

A Book of Uncommon Prayer, Forthcoming

January 12, 2023December 8, 2014

I’m proud to have two pieces in this, out May 2015:

A BOOK OF UNCOMMON PRAYER collects everyday invocations from 60 acclaimed and emerging authors. Edited by Matthew Vollmer, and inspired by the Anglican original, the anthology spans a remarkable range of beliefs and inclinations, producing a kaleidoscopic portrait of contemporary concerns, from the heart-wrenching to the irreverent. All proceeds will benefit 826 Valencia, which is “dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their writing skills, and to helping teachers get excited about the literary arts.”

COMING MAY 2015 from Outpost19. Pre-order available here: http://www.outpost19.com/UncommonPrayer/