Beverly Donofrio studied at Wesleyan University, then went on to receive an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. Her first book, Riding in Cars with Boys, became a cult classic and is currently a feature film starring Drew Barrymore and directed by Penny Marshall. Looking for Mary began as a radio documentary for NPR.
Brief Description:
At once a conversion story told by an immediately recognizable girl-like-you-and-me narrator, an irreverent look at the "cult of Mary", and a genuinely moving memoir, "Looking for Mary" is the story of one woman's stumble from darkness into the light.
Entering her fortieth year, Beverly Donofrio, a lapsed Catholic, inexplicably begins collecting Virgin Mary memorabilia at yard sales. Her search for kitsch, however, soon becomes a spiritual quest, leading her to make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Medjugorje. There, she learns that Mary comes into your life only when pride steps out and receives a bonus: hope. In Looking for Mary, Donofrio offers the universal story about a woman who-in a quest for the Blessed Mother-finds herself.