Why Not Try God?

by Mary Pickford, Anke Brouwers (Foreword)

Famous motion picture actress Mary Pickford wrote her inspirational self-help manual “Why Not Try God?” in 1934, with the aid of her collaborator Adela Rogers St. Johns. For nearly eighty years its thoughtful approach toward spirituality has encouraged and inspired her audience. Pickford’s positive approach gives anyone, believer or non-believer, a rationale on which to build faith, and a path to understanding the difficulties we face in life. It contains her most famous quote: “...this thing that we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down,” along with her prescription for how to pull yourself back up again for a new beginning. Pickford starts her story with her own youthful rebellion against a God whom she thought unjust, after the death of a childhood friend. She continues with her own turnabout as an adult, including stories of people who have inspired her and the thoughts of scientists and philosophers in whose statements on religion she has found meaning and understanding. “Why Not Try God?” is ultimately a cheerful work, a short, effective essay on why we should believe, and how such belief can become a positive influence that will help us meet our daily challenges and affect our lives and the lives of those around us for the better.

This new edition, simply and elegantly set, contains a new “Afterword” by film scholar and educator Anke Brouwers. Dr. Brouwers reveals the reasons that caused Mary Pickford to write “Why Not Try God?” and gives us a context for understanding her work that will of interest both to fans of the actress and to the general public.

Genres: Nonfiction

47 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2007

About the author

Mary Pickford was at one time the highest paid actress in the world and the most popular. Her work in silent films has been rediscovered in the past few decades and her position as one of the queens of Hollywood has been restored.

In addition to her screen work, Pickford contributed to and started charities including the Motion Picture Relief Fund and the Mary Pickford Foundation. She is a founding member of United Artists and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Reviews

[Susan Molloy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is an interesting book written by actress Mary Pickford in 1935. She lays out her feelings as a youngster about God, how she was angry at Him, and how she thought he was “mean†to people. Then, as a grown-up, she had a revelation wherein she sa

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

She’s right.

[Phil Syphe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because Hollywood legend Mary Pickford is my all-time favourite actress. It’s a quick read, lasting around forty pages.

This is not a religious tract or written in a didactic tone. Rather, it’s more of an extended advice column written in a conversational tone. It suggests, not insists.

Mary Pickford discusses how turning to God has helped her in difficult times and mentions other people in similar circumstance.

The main thing Mary focuses on is ‘thought’ and how we, as people, can positively or negatively affect any given situation through our thinking.

Her views were interesting, and I liked ‘hearing’ Mary’s voice coming to me through the decades via the pages.