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Alive in the Time of the Monks
Published by Rare Bird Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
What happens when survival is no longer enough?
OVERVIEW
In Alive in the Time of the Monks, Susan Russell blends memoir, spiritual inquiry, and hard-won wisdom into a deeply personal exploration of grief, fear, identity, and awakening. A former Broadway performer, educator, and lifelong seeker, Russell traces a path through family trauma, devastating loss, chronic pain, and profound transformation, asking what becomes possible when we stop reacting to life and begin observing it.
Structured as both story and invitation, Alive in the Time of the Monks challenges readers to examine their own assumptions about suffering, freedom, love, and the stories they carry. By turns fierce, funny, unconventional, and deeply compassionate, Russell's voice offers not easy answers, but a framework for seeing the world—and ourselves—with greater clarity.
For readers of spiritual memoir and transformational nonfiction, Alive in the Time of the Monks is a meditation on what it means to move beyond survival and into a more conscious life.
OVERVIEW
In Alive in the Time of the Monks, Susan Russell blends memoir, spiritual inquiry, and hard-won wisdom into a deeply personal exploration of grief, fear, identity, and awakening. A former Broadway performer, educator, and lifelong seeker, Russell traces a path through family trauma, devastating loss, chronic pain, and profound transformation, asking what becomes possible when we stop reacting to life and begin observing it.
Structured as both story and invitation, Alive in the Time of the Monks challenges readers to examine their own assumptions about suffering, freedom, love, and the stories they carry. By turns fierce, funny, unconventional, and deeply compassionate, Russell's voice offers not easy answers, but a framework for seeing the world—and ourselves—with greater clarity.
For readers of spiritual memoir and transformational nonfiction, Alive in the Time of the Monks is a meditation on what it means to move beyond survival and into a more conscious life.
About The Author
An accomplished singer/actor, Susan Russell enjoyed a twenty-five-year career in opera and musical theatre, retiring from performance after five years in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and in San Francisco. Changing careers at forty-five years of age, Russell received her MA/PhD in Theatre Studies from Florida State University in 2007 and is a Professor Emeritus from The Pennsylvania State University, where for seventeen years, she taught literature and criticism, playwriting, and musical theatre history. In addition to her classroom duties, Dr. Russell created landmark DEI curriculum and partnered with local school systems to use storytelling as a tool to help young people talk about contemporary cultural issues. Susan Russell lives in Greensboro, NC with her wife, Elizabeth Nackley, and she still cannot seem to grow a proper heirloom tomato.
Product Details
- Publisher: Rare Bird Books (March 16, 2027)
- Length: 272 pages
- ISBN13: 9781644286142
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