Rating: 
Summary: A collection of vignettes
Review: Mary Rose O'Reilley claims to be a Quaker who was raised as a Catholic, and studied Zen Buddhism. At the age of 51, Mary, a sleight woman who earns her living as a literature professor, a profession on which she has 'burned out' because she no longer appreciates books(!) takes up animal husbandry--including midwifery--as a shephedress. Mary gets all involved in caring for her sheep, from which comes the bulk of the book. She shears them, worms them, breeds them and generally gets butted around in the process, describing the events in often earthy language. Her mentor is a 21-year-old farmhand named Ben, who tells her that she thinks too much, and that her 'body knows how,' in a Zen-reminiscent approach. That is typical of, and about the extent of, spiritual guidance in her book. Each chapter is a short vignette, and runs about two-and-a-half pages, generally. So, it's the kind of book you can pick up any old time and read for five minutes, and then lay it down again. It is autobiographical, of course. There is no plot. Like Mary's life, it just sort of dangles along on the wind, going no where. There is humor, wit, and occasional pathos, along with more than you really wanted to know about taking care of sheep. It's a good book to have around, for filling up a few off moments. I enjoy it. But, don't expect to much spiritual guidance, fulfillment or direction from it. Joseph Pierre,
author of THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS: Our Journey Through Eternity
Rating: 
Summary: One of my favorite books ever....
Review: I loved reading Ms. O'Reilley's thoughts as she delved into her spiritual life through the retelling of the "everyday." As a fairly young woman with children myself, I enjoyed this author's empty-nester vitality and exploration of a life she obviously enjoys living. She does things that I hope I would do someday when I no longer have the children at home. Again, as a woman with children, I could relate in a very earthy way to finding holiness in... well... "dirty work." I like that Ms. O'Reilly doesn't mince the details in an attempt to be pious or meek. On the other hand, much of her writing style is absolutely delicious to read, no matter what the subject matter. This author can make sheep rectums something wonderful to read about!
I also love the way the author lives, something I would describe as very loving living. I love the value she places on many aspects of different spiritual traditions. It comes together in wonderful harmony, something that is very soothing and pleasing to read. (I would agree with some other reviewers that this book is not a solid reference for Buddhism or Quaker beliefs, but it certainly has a wonderfully lovely tone!) This book is about spiritual living - with or without a denominational label. I often found myself feeling a great sense of peace and calm while reading it, and enjoyed it immensely. This book is heartily recommended!
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books ever....
Review: I loved reading Ms. O'Reilley's thoughts as she delved into her spiritual life through the retelling of the "everyday." As a fairly young woman with children myself, I enjoyed this author's empty-nester vitality and exploration of a life she obviously enjoys living. She does things that I hope I would do someday when I no longer have the children at home. Again, as a woman with children, I could relate in a very earthy way to finding holiness in... well... "dirty work." I like that Ms. O'Reilly doesn't mince the details in an attempt to be pious or meek. On the other hand, much of her writing style is absolutely delicious to read, no matter what the subject matter. This author can make sheep rectums something wonderful to read about! I also love the way the author lives, something I would describe as very loving living. I love the value she places on many aspects of different spiritual traditions. It comes together in wonderful harmony, something that is very soothing and pleasing to read. (I would agree with some other reviewers that this book is not a solid reference for Buddhism or Quaker beliefs, but it certainly has a wonderfully lovely tone!) This book is about spiritual living - with or without a denominational label. I often found myself feeling a great sense of peace and calm while reading it, and enjoyed it immensely. This book is heartily recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly enjoyable and funny read!
Review: I loved this book! Unlike the authors of so many other "spiritual quest" books I have read, Mary Rose O'Reilley comes across as a real person; someone with faults, misgivings, and cravings for cream tarts. She gets cranky, she hates her roomate who's always happy with everything, she complains about the food at the monastery, and generally stumbles and bumbles along in her search for enlightenment. Yet, she retains a great sense of humor and an earthy outlook on things spiritual. This makes her more real and likable to me than people who claim to "love everyone" as they cut others off on the freeway. O'Reilley is no saint, but she's no hypocrite, either. She IS funny, warm, likable and very human. She's someone I would enjoy being friends with. In short, Mary Rose O'Reilley is a mensch.
Rating:
Summary: Stumbling along in a search for God
Review: I loved this book! The author was candid and honest about her persuit of God. She didn't claim to have any great hidden revelation to share, and yet she shared so much. Including her own human nature to be irritable with others who are different. Having grown up on a farm, I understood why she found the barn to be such a rich source of spiritual inspiration. I read this book through to the end and wished for more. It closely matches my own spiritual journey.
Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly enjoyable and funny read!
Review: I loved this book! Unlike the authors of so many other "spiritual quest" books I have read, Mary Rose O'Reilley comes across as a real person; someone with faults, misgivings, and cravings for cream tarts. She gets cranky, she hates her roomate who's always happy with everything, she complains about the food at the monastery, and generally stumbles and bumbles along in her search for enlightenment. Yet, she retains a great sense of humor and an earthy outlook on things spiritual. This makes her more real and likable to me than people who claim to "love everyone" as they cut others off on the freeway. O'Reilley is no saint, but she's no hypocrite, either. She IS funny, warm, likable and very human. She's someone I would enjoy being friends with. In short, Mary Rose O'Reilley is a mensch.
Rating: 
Summary: Frances Mayes goes to Plum Village
Review: I was disappointed in the author's spiritual arrogance regarding her month-long retreat at the Plum Village Buddhist monastery. Can you imagine a Buddhist going to a Christian monastery for a month's retreat without knowing anything about Christian theology? And then complaining the entire time that it's customs are too different from her own? Yet because the author had practiced zazen on her own for years, she decided she was a Buddhist without understanding the basic concepts behind it or its customs. Zazen alone doesn't make one a Buddhist anymore than sitting in a church makes one a Christian. I am glad she gained some insight to her experience, but I agree with another reviewer that she should have been less eager to claim a label that doesn't fit. The author reminded me of another middle-aged white college professor who swept into a new milleu and then proceeded to critique the natives, Frances Mayes of Tuscany fame (thankfully, she is far more self-aware than Mayes).
Rating:
Summary: More Shepherd and Quaker than Buddhist
Review: If you're not into Animal Husbandry (or wifery, for that matter) and can get past the first 75 pages, you may glean some Buddhist philosophical insight from this book. Mary's writing is superb, to be sure. It's eloquent and poetic prose that flows in a very readable way; yet, she sure loves lambs and sheep and is darn proud to admit it. Furthermore, she obviously is a very special and wonderful person which, I suspect, comes more from her Quaker and countrified background, rather than any Buddhist influence. My expectations, I'm afraid, were for more of her Buddhist views based on her experience with the legendary Vietnamese monk Thich N'hat Hahn. The description of her retreat at his place was excellent; but before I knew it I was reading again about people messing around with animal parts. For a bucolic read about nature and its spiritual complements, this is a fine book. If you're searching for the least bit of Buddhist philosophy, I'm afraid that's what you'll find: the least bit. Perhaps the title should have been: The Barn at the End of the World : A Year in the Life of a Shepherd, Quaker Buddhist.
Rating:
Summary: many seekers get fleeced
Review: Mary Rose O'Reilley turns out the simple truth of personal spirituality: One is much more likely to find God while tending to a ewe's prolapsed rectum than by reading about someone else's journey. O'Reilley has a simple, direct voice that reminds me of Annie Dillard at her best (which, by the way, is Dillard's "For the time being"). I'm somewhat biased as I married a woman who was raised on a sheep farm that adjoins a monastery. I know the sheep yard to be a gracious, if not holy, place. For those disapointed in not finding a more thorough or "authentic" study of Buddisim, Quakerisim, or spirituality in general I'd suggest that pehaps books, though a wonderful thing, are not the road to understanding you seek. Perhaps you can find a way to take some time and explore your own spirituality through direct experience...I can give you the address of a kindly shepherd near a monastery in Iowa.
Rating:
Summary: Each vignette a meditation
Review: O'Reilley's memoir shared more than I expected from her attention-catching title. When I began the book, I wanted to understand a friend's fascination with sheep...when I finished I was beginning to understand, perhaps, a bit of the mindfulness it takes to be a shepherd. Learning to accept and learning to love both must begin with ourselves, is one message that came through on this first read. This is a book which I will read again in a couple of years...when I do, I expect I will be reading a completely different book, gaining new glimpses of what it means to be human / God's creation.
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