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The Believer: Encounters with the Beginning, the End, and our Place in the Middle Hardcover – March 1, 2022

by Sarah Krasnostein (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 40 ratings
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A New Yorker Best Book of 2022

A Best Book of the Month at The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Deeply beautiful, and never simple.” ―James Gleick, author of Time Travel: A History

An unforgettable tour of the human condition that explores our universal need for belief to help us make sense of life, death, and everything in between.

For Sarah Krasnostein it begins with a Mennonite choir performing on a subway platform, a fleeting moment of witness that sets her on a fascinating journey to discover why people need to believe in absolute truths and what happens when their beliefs crash into her own. Some of the people Krasnostein interviews believe in things many people do not: ghosts, UFOs, the literal creation of the universe in six days. Some believe in things most people would like to: dying with dignity and autonomy; facing up to our transgressions with truthfulness; living with integrity and compassion. 

By turns devastating and uplifting, and captured in snapshot-vivid detail, these six profiles of a death doula, a geologist who believes the world is six thousand years old, a lecturer in neurobiology who spends his weekends ghost hunting, the fiancée of a disappeared pilot and UFO enthusiasts, a woman incarcerated for killing her husband after suffering years of domestic violence, and Mennonite families in New York will leave you convinced that the most ordinary-seeming people are often the most remarkable and that deep and abiding commonalities can be found within the greatest differences. 

Vivid, unconventional, entertaining, and full of wonder, The Believer interweaves these stories with compassion and empathy, culminating in an unforgettable tour of the human condition that cuts to the core of who we are as people, and what we’re doing on this earth.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    360 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Tin House Books
  4. Publication date
    March 1, 2022
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.4 x 8.9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1953534007
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1953534002
  8. See all details
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Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

From the Publisher

Deeply beautiful, and never simple. —James Gleick, author of Time Travel: A History

Sasha Sagan

Alex Marzano-Lesnevich

Peter Manseau

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Generous and compassionate. . . . Her talent for penetrating intimate settings and eliciting personal testimony is impressive. The profiles are fascinating."
― The Washington Post

"Revelatory."
― The New Yorker

"The Believer succeeds at its goal of bridging distances, of transcending the self to comprehend the other."
― NPR Books

"A fascinating portrait of the human condition, Sarah Krasnostein’s latest explores a range of belief systems through six profiles―of a death doula, a geologist, a ghost-hunting neurobiologist, ufologists, a woman accused of murder, and Mennonite families living in New York. A great read for our ‘deeply fractured times.’"
― LitHub

"Explores the power of belief by weaving together six profiles of people who believe in ghosts and gods and flying saucers, people with whom Krasnostein has very little in common."
― The Rumpus

"This is a must-read if you love these kind of journalistic deep-dives into Characters with a capital C. . . . You get that very rare experience of feeling like you understand other people a little bit better."
― What's Nonfiction

"Fans of Jon Ronson’s. . . . will appreciate this collection of interviews with interesting people who believe interesting things."
― The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Compassion and curiosity permeate Sarah Krasnostein’s writing. Every few pages there is a line so poignant it takes my breath away."
― Sasha Sagan, author of For Small Creatures Such As We, Rituals for Finding Meaning in Our Unlikely World

"Sarah Krasnostein takes us on an unexpected journey through strains of belief that range from dubious to bizarre. It is sometimes disconcerting, sometimes deeply beautiful, and never simple."
― James Gleick, author of Time Travel: A History

"Sarah Krasnostein holds a mirror to the world we inhabit but don’t fully understand, helping us see how our lives are shaped by beliefs at once wholly strange and unexpectedly familiar. Lyrical, haunting, endlessly curious, The Believer will restore your faith in the power of stories to bridge the gaps between us."
― Peter Manseau, author of The Apparitionists

"In an era when it often appears as though beliefs are our biggest dividing lines, Sarah Krasnostein’s The Believer comes as a great tonic―a thoughtfully reported, entertaining, and empathetic examination of the beliefs that sustain yet sometimes dangerously mislead. Exacting yet compassionate, she takes readers deep inside communities and lives that may be distant from us, offering portraits that refract back on our own worlds. The result feels deeply wise. If reading a book can make you more human, The Believer does just that."
― Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir

"Sarah Krasnostein’s The Believer is filled with everything the world needs more of: compassion, curiosity, and tenderness. Krasnostein brilliantly shows us how to look more carefully, listen more closely, and love more expansively. A complicated, lyrical portrait of belief, meaning making, and the stories we tell that might save us."
― Sarah Sentilles, author of Stranger Care

"Fascinating."
― Broadview

"This collection of essays will be great for groups looking for something approachable but thoughtful as Krasnostein explores all kinds of strangers’ beliefs about the afterlife, a higher power, and everything in between and what happens when their beliefs clash with the beliefs of others. It’s definitely a poignant piece for today and will open up lots of discussion possibilities for book groups."
― Book Riot

"An illuminating meditation on the nature of belief and the quest for meaning."
― Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Brimming with poetic hope. . . . The Believer is an outstanding treatise on human relationships, with one another and the unexplained."
― Shelf Awareness, Starred Review

From the Back Cover

For Sarah Krasnostein it begins with a choir on a subway platform, a fleeting moment of witness that sets her on a fascinating journey to find out why people need to believe in absolute truths and what happens when their beliefs crash into her own. Some of the people Krasnostein interviews believe in things many people do not. Ghosts. UFOs. The literal creation of the universe in six days. Some believe in things most people would like to. Dying with dignity and autonomy. Facing up to our transgressions with truthfulness. Living with integrity and compassion.

By turns devastating and delighting, and captured in snapshot-vivid detail, these six profiles with a death doula, a geologist who believes the world is six thousand years old, a lecturer in neurobiology who spends his weekends ghost hunting, the fiancé of a disappeared pilot and UFO enthusiasts, a woman incarcerated for killing her husband after suffering years of domestic violence, and Mennonite families in New York will leave you convinced that the most ordinary-seeming people are often the most remarkable and that deep and abiding commonalities can be found within the greatest differences.

Vivid, unconventional, entertaining, and full of wonder, Krasnostein interweaves the stories of these believers with compassion and empathy, exploring our universal need for belief to help us attempt to make sense of life, death, and everything in between

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tin House Books (March 1, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 360 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1953534007
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1953534002
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.27 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.4 x 8.9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 40 ratings

About the author

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Sarah Krasnostein

Sarah Krasnostein

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Sarah Krasnostein is a writer and a lawyer with a PhD in criminal law. A fourth generation American and a third generation Australian, she has lived and worked in both countries. Her essay, ‘The Secret Life of a Crime Scene Cleaner’, was published on Longreads and listed in Narratively’s Top 10 Stories for 2014. As a law lecturer and researcher, her areas of specialization are: the history of crime and punishment, comparative criminal law, sentencing law and criminal justice policy. She lives in Melbourne and spends part of the year working in New York City. The Trauma Cleaner (Text Publishing / St Martin’s Press) is her first book.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
40 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Sara Steven
5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting experience
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2022
Verified Purchase
As a soon-to-be college grad, one of the courses I recently completed was a Death and Dying class, which focused a lot on the different views and customs that different cultures have where death is concerned. Reading The Believer reminded me of that course, particularly the section with the death doula. Many of us in our Western culture have been taught to shy away from death, to do our best not to talk about it or engage in anything even remotely related to the end of our lives, but Sarah Krasnostein made sure to include that story told from someone who lived it. It was an open, honest look at the human experience, which was the central theme to the other chapters and stories that are within this book.

The various points of view represented felt unbiased, as though giving everyone the opportunity to tell their own story in the best way they knew how. The ones that interested me the most were the death doula and the ghost hunting stories, and the one that gave me the biggest chills was the story of the disappearing pilot. I’m sure it’s a true event that happened the year I was born, yet it’s not something I’ve ever heard of before, and I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to be the man who had that experience, or the family and friends who knew him and live with the knowledge of his disappearance.

The story that resonated with me had been the one with the woman dealing with domestic violence who later murders her husband in an attempt to be free from the years of abuse. It showed the huge gaps that exist within our human welfare, particularly given the time and place the experience for this woman takes place in. When I began reading The Believer, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, particularly since the book appeared to have such vastly different types of stories represented, yet I later learned just how intricately woven they all are, and how they all tied together and made perfect sense. It really was an interesting experience.
2 people found this helpful
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Hopeh1122
3.0 out of 5 stars Wanted To Like This But…
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2022
The concept of the book is a good one. I really wanted to like it. However, the author’s writing style is distracting and frustrating. She has a hard time writing a straightforward sentence. She uses the passive voice a lot. She throws in metaphors where they are not needed. She describes ordinary situations with way too much detail. “Just tell the damn story!” I wanted to scream at several points. A few examples:
“She materializes from a doorway that leads into a rabbit warren of the Answers in Genesis workplace through which she ushers me to her windowless office.” Huh?! Just say “She ushers me into her windowless office” for goodness sake!

“Reality is a shelter that we continuously augment with distraction and deception, insistence and belief. This landed us on the moon but it could kill us before our time.” What?!? I’m smart but this makes no sense. Sounds philosophical though, right?

“It’s the first time I’ve heard homosexual agenda used in a conversation. Instead of sounding like raw meat being twisted from the bone his tone is particularly frightening in it’s banality.” ?? Read this again. It makes no sense. Who’s hearing are we talking about here? And “twisting meat from the bone”? Pardon the pun but that is an awfully “raw” metaphor for this situation…again distracting from the message instead of enhancing the impact of what’s happening.

“Radical acceptance of uncertainty and impermanents is what one may expect of a person who shares her home with an enormous gold Buddha and a monk who is currently eating his lunch out back.” This passive voice sentence makes me cringe. And confused. Put a period after monk and it would help a little!! There are soooo many sentences like this in this book. It’s too bad. I wish her editor had told her to be more direct. I’m not asking for it to be dumbed down (I’m a pretty smart cookie) just clearer!

Also, each person’s story is broken up into little chunks and scattered throughout various sections of the book. I would have enjoyed having each story as it’s own chapter, all together. I think it would have been more powerful that way.

I wanted to like this book due to the subject matter but had to put it down because of the writing style and format. Or should I say: “Having given the book a sincere try, it was put down by me, in the garage, awaiting its delivery to the thrift store for another reader with more patience to embark on its journey.”
;-)
6 people found this helpful
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mike Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars A book about things far greater than us
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2022
Verified Purchase
This book is heart-centered, soulful, a true investigation into what it means to be part of this mystery of being alive, here and now. If I think of it as a memoir, then I can also see how it's possible to write about the self with less ego. The speaker in this book is interconnected: with others and with mystery far bigger than us.
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Jennifer Duncan
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting stories, but overall disjointed and confusing
Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2023
I really wanted to love this book, because the previous book by this author, The Trauma Cleaner, was one of my favorites, ever. And I read a lot. But this book just never came together for me, at all. The first half was very slow, and I felt like the way the book was put together was incredibly disjointed. Every time I started getting into one of the six stories told throughout this book, it would jump to another story, and another, then back, and I could find no rhythm or reason. I will add that I read an advance copy - thank you NetGalley! - so maybe the final version is better organized and flowing? But the copy I had was hard to understand. I felt like the author had a point or a moral, but with all the stories constantly interrupting each other, it was not conveyed to me. I still gave it three stars because I did find some of the stories interesting, and because I love the author’s first book and am still looking forward to reading her next one.
One person found this helpful
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Margaret L
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2022
This book is fascinating and thought-provoking, and at the same time I'm not sure I completely understand what the author is trying to do, nor whether she has achieved it. She tells bits and pieces of six stories -- about a death doula, a woman who served 35 years for murder, psychic researchers, UFO enthusiasts, a creationist museum in Kentucky, and a Mennonite congregation in New York City -- and tries to show how they are all connected. And that's where she lost me. I couldn't get there with her. But it's an amazing ride nonetheless, with so much to think about. Not preachy, and she's fairly quiet about her own beliefs in order to let readers have their own views. I got this from the library, but I plan to buy a copy, because this is worth re-reading and sharing with others.
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