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Writings about, by, or inspired by poet and seeker Robert Lax

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Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax

Also available on Amazon: just click here.

Excellence in Publishing Award, Association of Catholic Publishers
Honorable Mention, Catholic Press Association Book Award
Finalist, Washington State Book Award

New York Times: “A fond biography of an unworldly man…vivid and engaging.”

Publishers Weekly: “Drawing on his friendship with poet Robert Lax (1915–2000) and his close readings of Lax’s writings, McGregor eloquently offers the definitive biography of a too often forgotten figure who influenced a number of writers and crafted spirituality out of his deep commitment to love, poverty, and justice.”

Karen Fisher, author of A Sudden Country: “Pure Act is much more than a biography. It’s a real and full and personal meditation on life, and on what a life is for.”

Pure Act tells the story of poet Robert Lax, whose quest to live a true life as both an artist and a spiritual seeker inspired Thomas Merton, Jack Kerouac, William Maxwell and a host of other writers, artists and ordinary people. Known in the U.S. primarily as Merton’s best friend and in Europe as a daringly original avant-garde poet, Lax left behind a promising New York writing career to travel with a circus, live among immigrants in post-war Marseilles and settle on a series of remote Greek islands where he learned and recorded the simple wisdom of the local people.  Born a Jew, he became a Catholic and found the authentic community he sought in Greek Orthodox fishermen and sponge divers.

Written by a writer who met Lax in Greece when he was a young seeker himself and visited him regularly over fifteen years, Pure Act is an intimate look at an extraordinary but little-known life.  Much more than just a biography, it’s a tale of adventure, an exploration of friendship, an anthology of wisdom, and a testament to the liberating power of living an uncommon life.

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Tag: Brookline Booksmith

A PURE ACT Reading in Boston

A PURE ACT Reading in Boston

If you live in or near Boston, I hope you’ll come out to 279 Harvard St. in Brookline this coming Thursday, May 18, for a 7 p.m. reading at Brookline Booksmith bookstore.  The new paperback version of Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax will be for sale at the reading.

Posted on May 13, 2017May 13, 2017Categories Lax books & reviews, Lax-related eventsTags Boston, Brookline Booksmith, reading
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