I was delighted with the response to my comments about literature in my BATGAP interview last week. https://batgap.com/ (In a day or two, I expect my interview will migrate from the top of the page, but it's interview #550 if you want to take a listen.)
Many people on the Facebook BATGAP page recommended books that are important to them, so if you're on FB, you might want to take a look. I want to post my own list of some of my favorite spiritual memoirs and novels here.
Note that this list does not include any of the hundreds of books that include biographical elements but are mostly commentary on what awakening/enlightenment is.
NOVELS ABOUT PEOPLE TRYING TO GET ENLIGHTENED (OR AT LEAST FLIRTING WITH IT)
Consolations
Sally Wolfe
Breakfast with Buddha, and Lunch with Buddha
Rolland Merullo
A Tale for the Time Being
Ruth Ozeki
Enlightenment for Idiots
Anne Cushman
Special Karma
Merry White Benerza
MEMOIRS
Ambivalent Zen
Lawrence Shainberg
Enlightenment Blues
Andre van der Braak
Turtle Feet
Nokolai Grozni
Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home
Natalie Goldberg
Where the Dead Pause and the Japanese Say Goodbye
Marie Mutsuki Mockett
NOVELS NOT EXPLICITLY ABOUT ENLIGHTENMENT BUT WONDERFULLY SPIRITUAL
Beautiful Ruins
Jess Walters
The Hours
Michael Cunningham
In the future, I'll try to add a one-sentence summary of each book, but meanwhile you can Google them or find them at one of the three places I review books: here, the Buddhist Fiction Blog, or Goodreads.
Please feel free to comment. Especially if you've read any of these books, I'd like to hear your impressions.
