Paula Huston - The Hermits of Big Sur

What an extraordinary gift Paula Hustons The Hermits of Big Sur has revealed itself to be. Who would have thought a seventy-year history of a Camaldolese monastery that rose in the wilds of the California coast could turn out to be such a page-turner! Theres so much history hereworld history, the major movements from Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin to the opening dialogues between East and West, the aftermath of Vatican II, hippydom, and radical feminism. And at the heart of it all, the need to find that necessary solitude and solace and true companionship which only the interior Mystery at the still point can provide.

Paul Mariani, biographer, poet, and author of Thirty Days: On Retreat with the Exercises of St. Ignatius and The Mystery of It All

In The Hermits of Big Sur, author Paula Huston uses her exceptional literary skills to introduce us to individuals who are hidden to us but who nevertheless pray for us constantly. Deftly, she weaves together the thousand-year history of the Camaldoli order with intimate details of monastic life at Big Sur. Above all Huston shows us the deep Christ-like community these hermits have been able to develop.

Richard J. Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline and Sanctuary of the Soul

This story of how one monastic community found its place on earth and in the evolving church will certainly appeal to those who already recognize monasteries as spiritual oases. Huston offers an intimate glimpse into the complex community life, life-giving humor, and humble wisdom of men who know something about love the rest of us cant afford to forget.

Marilyn McEntyre, author of Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies and Word by Word

Paula Hustons very readable history of the Camaldolese monastery at Big Sur gives a very clear picture of the challenges faced and overcome in establishing an eremitical monastery on the coast of California. She tells the story by focusing on the people involved, how they discovered monastic life, and how the unique experience of each has contributed to the unfolding of the communitys charism. The result is a realistic and very human portrayal of this distinctive chapter of monastic history.

Michael Casey, OCSO, author of Balaams Donkey: Random Ruminations for Every Day of the Year

Absolutely fascinating, gorgeously written, frequently brilliant. In her story of how an ancient monastic order found a home in California, and how the author found a home with them, Paula Huston offers us an invitation into a world that few see, but all will want to experience.

James Martin, SJ, author of Learning to Pray

The Hermits of Big Sur is a remarkable book. Meticulous in research and engaging in tone, it explores some of the most significant and turbulent moments in the history of Italy and America through the lens of the thousand-year-old Camaldolese order in the mountains of Tuscany and the orders sometimes challenging relationship with its younger daughter house in California. More than a fascinating introduction to the rich and complex history of eremitical monasticism, this book is also an invitation to drink from monastic spiritualitys deep, life-giving springs.

Deborah Smith Douglas, Oblate OSB Cam, is the author of The Praying Life: Seeking God in All Things

Paula Hustons history of the founding of New Camaldoli Hermitage reads like a novel, recounting the tumultuous story of planting the seeds of a thousand-year-old tradition on fresh but wild American soil. Told with obvious love as well as unflagging dedication to research, this work is sure to delight monks and oblates and serve as a warm introduction to the unique spirit of an incredible place on the edge of the continent.

Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam, Prior, New Camaldoli Hermitage and author of The God Who Gave You Birth

This is a wonderfully affectionate and informative look at the holy ground that has been a source of prayer, revelation, and grace for so many.

Ron Hansen, Santa Clara University, author of Mariette in Ecstasy and Hotly in Pursuit of the Real

Like a family history, with diverse characters ranging from the chemist to the guitarist, Paula Huston tells the story of the Camaldolese hermits of Big Sur. Having co-founded more than one hermitage at the same time as New Camaldoli, I can attest to the authenticity of the hermits struggles to survive in the wilderness in a true spirit of derring-do.

Tessa Bielecki, co-founder of the Spiritual Life Institute and the Nada/ Nova Nada hermitages and co-director of the Desert Foundation and the author of Holy Daring, Season of Glad Songs, and Desert Visions

T. S. Eliot once said of a sacred place: You are here to kneel where prayer has been valid. In Paula Hustons graceful, engrossing narrative history of New Camaldoli, she has given us privileged access to another such place. Even if you cant go there yourself, this book will enrich your sense of what contemplative prayer and the monastic life offer to every living soul.

Gregory Wolfe, author of Beauty Will Save the World

Cover design by Ann Blattner. Cover art by Arthur Poulin, OSB Cam, Night Symphony.

The Coast Road, in The Collected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers, Volume 2, 19281938 by Robinson Jeffers, edited by Tim Hunt 1938, renewed 1966 by Donnan Jeffers and Garth Jeffers. Evening Ebb, in The Selected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers by Robinson Jeffers, edited by Tim Hunt 2001 by Jeffers Literary Properties. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Stanford University Press.

2021 by Paula Huston
Published by Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, except brief quotations in reviews, without written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint Johns Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, MN 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Huston, Paula, author.

Title: The Hermits of Big Sur / Paula Huston ; with a foreword by Pico Iyer.

Description: Collegeville, MN : Liturgical Press, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: Based on notes kept for over sixty years by an early American novice at New Camaldoli Hermitage, The Hermits of Big Sur tells the story of what unfolds within this small and idealistic community when medievalism comes to terms with modernism Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021022395 (print) | LCCN 2021022396 (ebook) | ISBN 9780814685068 (paperback) | ISBN 9780814685303 (epub) | ISBN 9780814685303 (pdf)

Subjects: LCSH: HermitsCaliforniaBig Sur. | Monastic and religious lifeCaliforniaBig Sur. | New Camaldoli Hermitage (Big Sur, Calif.)

Classification: LCC BX2847.U6 H87 2021 (print) | LCC BX2847.U6 (ebook) | DDC 255.009794/76dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021022395

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021022396

Bench at New Camaldoli Hermitage (photograph by Kayleigh Meyers)