Everything Happens for a Reason

And Other Lies I've Loved

By: Kate Bowler

Narrated by: Kate Bowler

New York Times best seller

"A meditation on sense-making when there's no sense to be made, on letting go when we can't hold on, and on being unafraid even when we're terrified." (Lucy Kalanithi)

"Belongs on the shelf alongside other terrific books about this difficult subject, like Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air and Atul Gawande's Being Mortal." (Bill Gates)

Named one of the best books of the year by Real Simple

Kate Bowler is a professor at Duke Divinity School with a modest Christian upbringing, but she specializes in the study of the prosperity gospel, a creed that sees fortune as a blessing from God and misfortune as a mark of God's disapproval. At 35, everything in her life seems to point toward "blessing". She is thriving in her job, married to her high school sweetheart, and loves life with her newborn son.

Then she is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer.

The prospect of her own mortality forces Kate to realize that she has been tacitly subscribing to the prosperity gospel, living with the conviction that she can control the shape of her life with "a surge of determination". Even as this type of Christianity celebrates the American can-do spirit, it implies that if you "can't do" and succumb to illness or misfortune, you are a failure. Kate is very sick, and no amount of positive thinking will shrink her tumors. What does it mean to die, she wonders, in a society that insists everything happens for a reason? Kate is stripped of this certainty only to discover that without it, life is hard but beautiful in a way it never has been before.

Frank and funny, dark and wise, Kate Bowler pulls the reader deeply into her life in an account she populates affectionately with a colorful, often hilarious retinue of friends, megachurch preachers, relatives, and doctors. Everything Happens for a Reason tells her story, offering up her irreverent, hard-won observations on dying and the ways it has taught her to live.

Praise for Everything Happens for a Reason:

“I fell hard and fast for Kate Bowler. Her writing is naked, elegant, and gripping - she’s like a Christian Joan Didion. I left Kate’s story feeling more present, more grateful, and a hell of a lot less alone. And what else is art for?” (Glennon Doyle, number-one New York Times best-selling author of Love Warrior and president of Together Rising)

©2018 Kate Bowler (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"I fell hard and fast for Kate Bowler. Her writing is naked, elegant, and gripping - she's like a Christian Joan Didion. I left Kate's story feeling more present, more grateful, and a hell of a lot less alone. And what else is art for? Everything Happens for a Reason is art in its highest form, and Kate Bowler is a true artist - with the pen, and with her life." (Glennon Doyle, number-one New York Times best-selling author of Love Warrior and president of Together Rising)

"Bowler's dry humor and raw, personal accounts help make thinking about our common fate bearable." (The Wall Street Journal)

"Bowler's lovely prose and sharp wit capture her struggle to find continued joy after her [stage IV cancer] diagnosis. This poignant look at the unpredictable promises of faith will amaze readers." (Publishers Weekly)

Brutiful

I’m broken open after listening to Kate. This was beautiful and painful. I laughed too loud and cried too much all the way through. I’m so grateful Kate Bowler was willing to share herself and her experience with the world.

authentic look at suffering

Kate shares her own experience with suffering through cancer. She tells her thinking and beliefs on how they have changed.

I liked her rawness, her bluntness, and comical stories about the realities of cancer and suffering. The first 4 chapters were depressing to me and wanted to stop reading but I always finish a book a start.

She explained more about why she doesn't believe in the prosperity gospel which I agree with her there but I was surprised that domeone who is a Christian and religious studied based didn't use more verses to explain what she does believe. She focused more on traditions,and religous beliefs & rituals. I expected something different and a lot more. But its her book and she can write it how she wants it.

I agree with her list if what not to say and do and her list of what to say and do. I will be passing that part forward.

Lovely, and honest.

I loved every minute of this. Kate is a gifted writer and speaker, and conveys her life experience with wisdom and compassion. She speaks from and to the heart.

Boring, Disappointed

if you're going through the same walk as Kate maybe you'd have a different perspective on this book, or want to support medical study and pharmaceutical companies, but not what I was expecting. Disappointed

outstanding book

just wonderful! i really appreciate the author's perspective and learned so much in the process. thank you Kate Bowler!

Love Kate's Honestya

I loved this book. Bowler writes with the u mlmncommon ability to take something most consider tragic and make it triumphant! I'm on Kate's team!

Amazing book, changed volume throughout

This book is incredible and well worth the read but I will say I had to change the volume every time I thought she was going to yell because she can be loud when trying to articulate someone being upset, and it hurt my ears.

Must Read the Appendix sections!

Honestly you don’t need to read the book, although it is interesting. The two appendix sections are a must though! Write them down and save them for when you need them because we all will at some point. Those sections are gold! Tangible advice about dealing with the tough stuff and what do or say.

"balls out living, balls out grieving"

This book is breathtaking - both in the best and in the most heartbreaking ways. Bowler chronicles the experience of living in the liminal space of a devastating diagnosis. We're all dying, but some people's pain reminds us of that, and we rarely do well when reminded. Bowler's experience of suffering rings true to my own, and I cannot recommend this book enough to those who are suffering, have suffered, or those who love someone who is - especially those who are fed up with trite and minimizing responses like "everything happens for a reason."

This book blew my mind!

I ventured into this book upon a recommendation of a parishioner and as a part of preparation for a sermon about waiting (Isaiah 40:29-31)...and what an incredible gift. Kate's honesty, transparency, vulnerability and wisdom in addition to hearing this in her own voice is so powerful. I told a friend as I was devouring each word that I am not sure how I can pastor, care, pray, preach with any integrity going forward but also that I am strangely and equally comforted, encouraged, and bettered by Kate's story and reflections. I highly recommend this book, to readers of all walks of life and faiths, Christian or not. Thank you.