Welcome
I received my first review on an atheist blog, and feel so proud that Adam Lee compares An Unqunchable Thirst to Ayan Hirsi Ali's Infidel. Visit Daily Atheism at BigThink.com.
The Harvard Crimson covered my recent event with the Harvard Humanist Community. The article is excellent!
Bloomberg View published by op-ed on the Vatican Investigation of American nuns. Read it here, and leave a comment if you're so inclined.
Writer Leslie Greffenius interviewed me for the terrific blog "Beyond the Margins." Read Part One and Part Two of our interview: "...The memoir draws us into Sister Donata’s complicated relationship with Mother Teresa, the nun who believed that all suffering is a gift from Jesus and whose inscrutable decisions were not always wise. Like others I have spoken to about the book, I found myself turning pages compulsively, wondering how and when Sister Donata would reach her painful decision to leave the order in which she’d lived most of her life...."
My Christmas gift from the LA Times: A review that I unwrapped under my virtual tree: "Mary Johnson's An Unquenchable Thirst, a book about her 20 years as a Missionaries of Charity nun, provides an unusually detailed, frank account that will fascinate not only Catholics but anyone who has wondered about the human capacity to vow lifelong celibacy, poverty and charity."
Best Memoirs of 2011: An Unquenchable Thirst made Kirkus Review's list for Best Nonfiction of 2011. I'm listed with Joan Didion, Andre Dubus, and Mira Bartok! Kirkus Reviews calls itself "The World's Toughest Book Critics." This is quite an honor.
On December 2, Slate.com named An Unquenchable Thirst their Book of the Week! "Johnson's is a spiritual journey much starker and more enthralling than most...an incredible coming of age story. No interest in theology necessary."
Rosie O'Donnell says she loves my book, and O the Oprah Magazine published an excerpt. O's book editor, Sara Nelson interviewed me, asking some pretty interesting questions.
I've started a video blog. Check it out! I'll answer your questions, make book recommendations, and share my thoughts with you. I've also posted a video of my Spetember discussion at the Brooklyn Museum.
I'm so glad that people everywhere are discovering my story and connecting with it!
An Unquenchable Thirst
Following Mother Teresa in search of love, service, and an authentic life.
An Unquenchable Thirst is the story of my twenty years as a Missionary of Charity, a nun with Mother Teresa of Calcutta. People tell me that the book is more than a fascinating story about nuns; they say it’s a book about being human. That pleases me.
Mother Teresa always used to tell us: “God made us to love and to be loved.” An Unquenchable Thirst is the story of the many ways love surprised and challenged me, and of how I came to understand myself as a woman with body, mind, desires, and what some would call soul. I hope you’ll enjoy my stories, and that my book will spark lively, honest discussion. Click here for more details.