'Like a puppy in a Christmas stocking'

INTERVIEW: Novelist Anne Lamott discusses her family, her work, and her unorthodox view of Jesus | Susan Olasky

SINCE PUBLICATION OF HER spiritual memoir Traveling Mercies in 1999, Anne Lamott has become a favorite of many Christian college students who relish passages such as this one:

"I did not mean to be a Christian. I have been very clear about that. My first words upon encountering the presence of Jesus for the first time 12 years ago, were, I swear to God, 'I would rather die.' I really would have rather died at that point than to have my wonderful brilliant left-wing nonbeliever friends know that I had begun to love Jesus. I think they would have been less appalled if I had developed a close personal friendship with Strom Thurmond. At least there is some reason to believe that Strom Thurmond is a real person. You know, more or less.

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September 20, 2003, Vol. 18, No. 36

Pryor commitment Sep. 13, 2003	As the West burns Sep. 6, 2003	Ten Commandments showdown Aug. 30, 2003
Class warfare on vouchers Aug. 23, 2003	Nuclear threat in Korea Aug. 16, 2003	Capitol stampede in Texas Aug. 9, 2003