{"product_id":"will-and-attention-a-memoir-9780385551571","title":"Will and Attention: A Memoir by O'Gieblyn, Meghan","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn this luminous memoir of secret drinking, fragile recovery, and the deep pull of religion, award-winning essayist Meghan O'Gieblyn seeks to understand why it is so hard to sustain the difficult work of personal change. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"This is one of the best memoirs of the decade--a cool-water baptism, so bracing I felt transformed.\" --Jia Tolentino, author of \u003ci\u003eTrick Mirror\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An elegant and philosophical memoir about addiction whose stakes are no less than what comprises one's will to live.\" --Melissa Febos, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Dry Season\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAfter leaving evangelical Christianity in her early twenties, kicking an addiction, and building a life as a writer, Meghan O'Gieblyn was admired by her friends for having a strong will. Then, in her late thirties, she began secretly attending Catholic mass and meeting with a priest to discuss conversion. After eleven years of sobriety, she began drinking again. Both returns--to organized religion and to alcohol--felt to her like a regression, a personal defeat. Knowledge and determination had proven useless when it came to her most vexing personal battles. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eWill and Attention, \u003c\/i\u003e O'Gieblyn captures those perplexing days. Soon after her return to sobriety, she looked to a series of spiritual texts for answers and began putting them in conversation with her life. She was struck by the words of philosopher and mystic Simone Weil: \"We have to try to cure our faults by attention and not by will.\" Will had certainly failed her; perhaps the answer lay in attention to her wandering mind and heart? Inspired by this possibility, she set out to find a spirituality that could meet her longings and prove capacious enough to hold the dark side of human nature. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe book tracks her pursuit as she practices social distancing among the academics and artists of her Midwestern college town; attends conferences as part of the AI commentariat when the world opens again; traces her evangelical roots at a Bible camp on the dunes of Lake Michigan, and reminisces about her early years lost to drinking. Faced at midlife with the temptation to blow it all up, she seeks the grounding consolations of marriage, friendship, political engagement, and art. She makes a case for finding beauty in what is good. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWritten with the sparkling intellect and searching rigor that are Meghan O'Gieblyn's signature, \u003ci\u003eWill and Attention\u003c\/i\u003e is a singular memoir of recovery and discovery that plumbs the elusive nature of our power over ourselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Meghan O'Gieblyn\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Doubleday Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/06\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.90lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.56h x 5.60w x 1.15d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780385551571\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2026 pg. 85\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/10\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/0001\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/15\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMEGHAN O'GIEBLYN is a writer and the author of \u003ci\u003eGod, Human, Animal, Machine\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize in Science \u0026amp; Technology. Her first book, \u003ci\u003eInterior States\u003c\/i\u003e, won the 2018 Believer Book Award for nonfiction. Her criticism and essays have appeared in \u003ci\u003eHarper's Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003en+1\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Point\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Baffler\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Wired\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e The New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, \u003c\/i\u003eand other publications.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- bookmarks-official-preview:9780385551571 --\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"bookmarks-official-preview\" style=\"max-width:100%;margin:1.5em 0 0;\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 2px;letter-spacing:0.08em;font-size:12px;color:#c45c3a;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLOOK INSIDE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 12px;font-size:1.15em;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWill and Attention: A Memoir\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 12px;\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"bookmarks-li-open\" href=\"#bookmarks-look-inside\" style=\"display:inline-block;padding:6px 12px;border:1px solid #c45c3a;color:#c45c3a;text-decoration:none;\"\u003eLarger view\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;overflow-x:auto;-webkit-overflow-scrolling:touch;scroll-snap-type:x mandatory;display:flex;flex-wrap:nowrap;gap:0;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=1\" alt=\"Official sample page 1 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=4\" alt=\"Official sample page 2 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=6\" alt=\"Official sample page 3 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=8\" alt=\"Official sample page 4 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=9\" alt=\"Official sample page 5 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=10\" alt=\"Official sample page 6 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=12\" alt=\"Official sample page 7 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=14\" alt=\"Official sample page 8 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=15\" alt=\"Official sample page 9 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=16\" alt=\"Official sample page 10 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=17\" alt=\"Official sample page 11 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=18\" alt=\"Official sample page 12 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=19\" alt=\"Official sample page 13 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"flex:0 0 100%;width:100%;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;scroll-snap-align:start;box-sizing:border-box;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/insight.penguinrandomhouse.com\/fullpage.do?pContentType=JPG\u0026amp;pName=fullpage\u0026amp;pISBN=9780385551571\u0026amp;pPageID=20\" alt=\"Official sample page 14 of 14. Will and Attention: A Memoir by Meghan O'Gieblyn.\" width=\"560\" height=\"784\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:100%;height:auto;display:block;\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align:center;margin:10px 0 6px;\"\u003eSwipe for the next page · 14 official sample pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin:0 0 16px;font-size:13px;\"\u003eOfficial Penguin Random House sample. Promotion only. Not for resale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Doubleday Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67715152740505,"sku":"9780385551571","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0572\/3367\/0297\/files\/9780385551571.jpg?v=1792098697","url":"https:\/\/bookmarksretail.store\/products\/will-and-attention-a-memoir-9780385551571","provider":"Bookmarks Retail","version":"1.0","type":"link"}