Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Conversations. Barbara Ehrenreich, author of "Living with a Wild God."

The following biography is stolen from the LA Times.

Barbara Ehrenreich.  Ehrenreich's "Living With a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything" reconstructs her search for "the Truth," bringing a wry and erudite perspective to a young girl's obsession with the questions that torment us all.  She is also the author of the bestseller "Nickel and Dimed."

The following are my notes on what was said.  Apologies in advance for any errors, which I'm sure there are:

Her primary source for her book was a journal she wrote as a youth.  She had a journal, which was dedicated to searching for truth.  She needed to understand.  Her parents were devout atheists – as she is.

When she was a teen, she went on a poorly planned skiing trip.  They spent the night sleeping in a car.  She left the car early in the morning – probably looking for a bathroom.  It seemed like everything was alive.  It felt like an encounter with something that was “alive.”  A mystical experience.  It was ecstatic and shattering and violent.  She knew the truth, but couldn’t put it in words.  A rational explanation was that she had experienced a mental breakdown.   She tried to push it aside.  She knew something huge had happened to her.  The banality/mundane of this world, how could she stay in that type of world after her experience.

Monotheism is recent, only 2,500 years.  Before that, people believed in animal gods, multiple gods.  Those other religions didn’t require belief.  It is narcissism to say that we look like God.  It is overly familiar.  There are so many things that a god could look like – perhaps other animals.  Arrogance of humans.

She doesn’t like belief.  It is an issue without evidence.  She wants to know.  She doesn’t see any value in faith.  She wants deities that can manifest themselves.  Wouldn’t it be great if there was a deity who was really good and cared about our retirement savings?
The framework of our society is God, not atheism.
The idea of writing a memoir is inherently vane.  Her book is a story of her search.  Her next book will be taking down the self.  Cells of our body are on their own mission that isn’t good for us (cancer, being an example).   I am swarm.

I am a descendent of my younger self.   As a teen, she was writing the journal for her future self.  She read it with compassion.  How far have you advanced in your quest, her younger self asked?  This book is her answer to her younger self.

She can be annoyed around Christians.  For example, a pastor once thanks God for preparing the food.  She wanted to thank those who did prepare the food.  Christians often think that everyone in the group is a Chrstian.