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About Barbara
I’m Barbara Falconer Newhall and I’ve got a serious case of the human condition.
I’ve done it all: career, family, house, garden, and a prize-winning book, "Wrestling with God." The result: I'm a woman of years, lots of them, who can't help seeing things from the funny side.
Tucked away on this website are hundreds of riffs on life. I hope you’ll seek them out – and keep me company as I discover the humor, if not the meaning, in what life throws my way. Learn More
THE LATEST
Help ‘Wrestling with God’ Find Its Readers
By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment
“Wrestling with God” is a multi-faith book and a great gift for the upcoming holidays. It’s what our strife-ridden world needs right now. Read more.
BARBARA’S BOOK
★ Publishers Weekly, starred review
Any seeker of any faith will be blessed to read the words of this fine author and observer. Read more.
An inveterate doubter for most of her adult life, journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall embarks upon a quest to find a way to believe in God in the twenty-first century.
The result is Wrestling with God: Stories of Doubt and Faith, which details her search for the Divine in the lives of diverse Americans – from a fundamentalist Christian to a progressive Muslim to a Buddhist monk.Seekers of all persuasions will feel represented here, from priests, ministers, and rabbis to engineers, physicists, and avowed non-believers . . . a riverflow of a book. — Phil Cousineau, host of PBS’s Global Spirit
Recent Riffs on Life
A New Roll-Out for ‘Wrestling with God’ — Just in Time for the Holidays
By Barbara Falconer Newhall 8 Comments
Big news! Today is the day. It’s a new roll-out for my prizewinning book “Wrestling with God.” Join the celebration. Buy a copy or two! Read more.
I’m Not Going to Rant About the Election Results. Here’s Why
By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment
I’m not going to rant about the election results. The world doesn’t need another angry argument. I’m going to write about my garden. Or try to. Read more.
DON’T MISS!
A Widow’s Christmas Card — Where’s Jon When I Need Him Most?
By Barbara Falconer Newhall 10 Comments
My first widow’s Christmas card — my husband isn’t here to compose the poem and photoshop the card. How do I pull it off without him? Read more.
John Donne — A Love Affair With a Poet Long Dead
By Barbara Falconer Newhall 3 Comments
My college notes on the 17th-century poet John Donne were cautious and circumspect. My feelings fairly burst with yearning, spiritual and erotic. Read more.
It’s Launch Day for “Wrestling with God” and I’m Hoping You’ll Buy a Copy . . . or Two or Three
By Barbara Falconer Newhall 3 Comments
Wrestling with God has arrived. Today is launch day, and I’m hoping that my subscribers will be the first to go to Amazon and their local bookstores to order themselves a copy. Read more.