Room for Doubt

by Wendy Lesser

Room for Doubt is about one writer’s growing suspicion that there are more things in heaven and earth than were dreamt of in her previous philosophy. Through Wendy Lesser’s account of her stay in a city that she never imagined she would see, a book she thought she wanted to write but never did, and a friendship that constantly broke down and endured, she offers us an unusual journey through the terrain of feeling and beliefs, and in the end shows us how, once examined, things are never quite what she thought they were.

Raised as an agnostic who acknowledged her Jewish heritage mainly because it seemed like caving in to Hitler not to do so, Lesser always assumed that she would never visit Germany. Yet once in Berlin, she is astonished to discover a place that is at once spur and antidote to many of her dissatisfactions and longings. Hoping, in Berlin, to write a book about the Scottish philosopher David Hume, she is not sure whether it is the writer or his ideas that she finds sympathetic, and eventually she comes to see that the only way to learn something from Hume is not to think about him as having something to teach. Instead of writing about Hume, she decides to write about her “difficult friendship” with Leonard Michaels. In doing so, she comes to see that their
difficulties––fights and reconciliations, mutual obstinacy, and an intensely shared interest in the arts––were an essential and binding aspect of a friendship which, despite Michaels’ recent death, remains an important part of her life.

A completely honest, at times funny, and always engaging self-portrait unlike any other memoir or autobiography.

Genres: Essays

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Wendy Lesser a critic, novelist, and editor based in Berkeley, California.

She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the New York Public Library's Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.

Reviews

[Olga Zilberbourg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains three essays: on Wendy's stay in Berlin, examining both her Jewish and American identity through the lens of being abroad; a piece about an uncompleted book on the philosopher David Hume; and a personal essay mourning the loss of her "difficult friend" novelist Leonard Michaels. The three pieces are loosely connected with one another -- perhaps in their time of composition (though this is not entirely clear) -- and in some preoccupations with morality, including the topic of arts and morality, Jewish identity, personality, and ways that these intersect with time and place and nationality (being American). Some of these themes are examined in more depth than others, but most of them are present in all three pieces. I enjoyed spending time with Wendy, even though I have a feeling I strongly disagree with her about most everything -- but I think what she does most successfully here is to capture her own vibrant, opinionated, strongly phrased voice. I think that I would probably not enjoy disagreeing with her had I met her in person and yet the argument itself would feel important simply by the strength of her opinions and personality. A fun and a quick read.

[Claudia Greening · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this three part memoir on a long, lazy Michigan afternoon. While Lesser’s story of learning to love failure was compelling, I didn’t connect with the writing as much as I anticipated I would. Lesser paints a beautiful portrait of moving to Berlin in the first section— certainly the most enjoyable. And while her musings on the challenges of deep and rewarding friendship was understandable, I found it to be a bit condescending. I think memoir as a genre can walk a fine line between sincere self-reflection and self-absorption. Maybe this was a misread on my part, but Lesser’s Room for Doubt left me wanting more.

[Kasey Jueds · Rating 5 out of 5]

The five star rating is based mostly on the first essay here (about visiting and falling in love with Berlin) and the last (about Wendy Lesser's "difficult friendship" with the writer Leonard Michaels)--enjoyed the middle essay, too (which chronicles how WL decided not to write the biography of David Hume she'd been planning) but not nearly as much. The first and last, though: wow. WL might not be the easiest person to be friends with (she admits this herself), but as a narrator she's smart, passionately opinionated, interested in all sorts of things, and incredibly well-read and well-educated. I read this book slowly--it really does encourage you to stop and stare out the window and ponder--and with lots of pleasure, and it left me thinking about friendship, and the relationship between art and politics, and different cultures, and the joys of reading and music and thinking, and much much more.

[Micebyliz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I devoured this book. It was wonderful in so many ways. I felt sometimes that i was speaking, it sounded so much like me. (well, the me who wishes she could write)
Each section was another piece of the spectacular apple pie i made the other day :)
I have never wanted to go to Germany. couldn't quite put it into words. Now i can.
I have always drifted off into a reverie during certain music--especially concerts--and several times into tears.
We too use Shakespeare to amuse ourselves...
And i have experienced grief that does feel like a continent has disappeared.
I couldn't believe what i was reading. As if ripped out of my brain. (again, if only i could write)

[Congregation Beth-El Zedeck Library]

Room for Doubt is Wendy Lesser’s account of three separate but interlocking occasions for doubt: her stay in Berlin, a city she had never expected to visit; her unwritten book on the philosopher David Hume; and her long friendship with the writer Leonard Michaels, which constantly broke down and yet endured. Through this unusual journey, Lesser in the end shows us how, once examined, things are never quite what she thought they were.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

great extended travel essay by a professor on sabbatical in Berlin and her impressions of that city and its people, history, etc.

[Eric Candell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: recommended by Oliver Sachs in a list of books that impacted him. Also led to me deciding to visit Berlin in summer of 2016

[Sara Budarz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit I had never heard of Wendy Lesser, but I came across this book in search of any and all books that deal with the topic of modern day Berlin, and so decided to give it a read. In many ways it is three books in one: the first part looking at the time in life in which she, for a few months, lived in Berlin. The second about why she was supposed to (but will not be) write a book about the philosopher David Hume. And the last part about dealing with the death of a close (yet problematic) friend. The verdict? The last section about the death of a friend, perhaps especially because it is something I am currently grappling with as well, was beautiful and insightful. The first part about Berlin was a mixed bag: some moments of great insight, and yet also so many moments in which Lesser seems frustratingly ignorant of German culture and therefore makes absurd statements (and also gets some facts wrong to the point where I had to wonder how they weren't caught). And yet, it still has valuable enough passages that I will be using it in on of my classes. The middle section about Hume? Informative, but could have been left out.
Overall, an odd book that is hard to pin down or describe, and one where it was easy to read a few pages and put it down and forget about it--- which isn't usually a compliment, but for this book, it somehow was. Every few pages there was something that just struck me as so important to life that I couldn't read on, but rather spent days dwelling on the passage.

[Gail Kennon]

i enjoyed the first part about berlin very much..wish the whole book had been like that..found the section on Hume fragmented and the part about her friendship with leonard michaels strangely unfocused.