Nothing: Something to Believe In
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We sat in a little circle, Mom on the brown leather chair, Dad on the matching ottoman; I was on the carpet." So," I said. "What are we?Both of my parents had looks of utter confusion on their faces. I had really stumped them. After a pause, my dad asked for clarification . . . ." . . . it's like this-all my friends are something. Vanessa is a Unitarian, Michelle is Catholic, Lucy is Presbyterian . . . so I just want to know-what am I?I smiled at them to make them feel better. But I was getting pretty nervous, too."We're nothing." My father was looking right at me; he had a pleasant, friendly kind of an expression. "Nothing," he said again."That's right," said my mother. She seemed relieved that Dad had just said it. "Nothing at all. . . . We like being nothing."What is it like to grow up in a house with no religion? What kind of experiences does someone have when one is not a believer and yet comes into constant contact with religion? How can a person find out what they are when they focus primarily on what they are not?These are the questions raised in the memoir Nothing. With humor, wit, and poignant insight, Nica Lalli recounts her mishaps and misadventures with religion from early childhood into her adult years. As a questioning child, unsure of her idea of God, then a teenager feeling like an outsider, and finally an adult mother confronted by her husband's born-again Christian family and questions from her own children, Nica vividly describes her struggle to find out what kind of "something" she really is. In the end, the author finds that "nothing" is a philosophy to be embraced rather than feared. Nothing is an appealing,sensitively written story that offers hope, humor, and reason to millions of similar Americans who feel alienated in an ever more religiously polarized nation. Pat BangsCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal Adult/High SchoolIn this appealing memoir, an art educator in New York City chronicles her journey of acceptance as she came of age in a family that refused to embrace organized religious belief. When the author was seven, she decided she would like to join a Catholic friend in making her first communion. "I wanted the white dress," Lalli admits. When she asked her parents, "What are we?" she was surprised at the answer. Her once-Catholic father responded, "We are nothing." Her mother said, "My family is Jewish, but we don't practice Judaism." Thus began the girl's quest to define her secular beliefs in a society where religion often separates rather than unites people. She tried to come to terms with the friendliness of door-to-door proselytizers. She resisted efforts to convert to Christianity at a ski weekend sponsored by a church. As a teen, she tried to come to terms with the meaning of death. Her hardest task was to gain acceptance from the sister of the boyfriend she later married. When she gained the strength to believe in the correctness of her secular views, the judgments of believers no longer bothered her. The memoir ends as the author, now the mother of two, must answer the same questions she posed to her parents as a child. Whatever readers' beliefs, they will find this search for acceptance enlightening.
Contents acknowledgments...............................................................9introduction..................................................................11part 1 chapter 1 god punished me.....................................................17chapter 2 nothing.............................................................23chapter 3 jesus freaks at the door............................................33chapter 4 don't tell (about the jesus freaks at the door).....................45chapter 5 i believe in mary worth.............................................51chapter 6 the dead bird.......................................................63chapter 7 bargains with god...................................................71chapter 8 star wars summer....................................................81chapter 9 bible ski trip......................................................93chapter 10 real-life death....................................................107chapter 11 father daniel......................................................121chapter 12 agnosticism in italy...............................................133part 2 chapter 13 my sister is a christian...........................................149chapter 14 living in sin......................................................159chapter 15 joined in jesus....................................................169chapter 16 tarot cards and taco pie...........................................179chapter 17 a civil ceremony...................................................189chapter 18 theconversation...................................................195chapter 19 open casket........................................................203chapter 20 doubting god.......................................................213chapter 21 leap of faith......................................................223chapter 22 bad jew............................................................233chapter 23 take it back.......................................................243chapter 24 god bless america..................................................253chapter 25 mommy, what do we believe in?......................................265
