"There's more to Lauretta Hannon's life and work than just laughs. A lot more," says Paul Moses of V3Magazine. "There's a sort of therapeutic magic in the things she does. It's medicinal merriment. …With a pithy economy of words, often hilarious, always poignant, Hannon invites her readers to identify with her as she encourages them to keep on trying."
That style carries through in her newest book, A Priest Walks into a Waffle House: Stories from a Gritty, Grace-Filled Life (Mercer University Press). Described as “a cheeky spiritual memoir with an audacious message of hope,” the book releases Aug. 4.
“I hope A Priest Walks into a Waffle House is a bit of ‘story medicine’ for the weary and whacked out, the enraged and the anxious, and those who just want to relax with a book and laugh big. In other words, I want this book to make you feel better,” she said. “Consider it a tonic composed of four elements: poignancy, comedy, grit and joy. But also consider it a grenade lobbed at the neurotic, doom-scrolling caravan of despair we’re all trudging along in.”
In this collection of stories, Hannon writes about her “eventual, fitful and comical conversion to Catholicism,” calling the book “part tender meditation, part war cry and a rollicking good time for readers of any or no faith.”
Hannon is a TEDx speaker, writing teacher and best-selling author of The Cracker Queen: A Memoir of a Jagged, Joy-Filled Life. Crowned "The Funniest Woman in Georgia" by Southern Living, she's been a commentator on NPR's All Things Considered, and her work has been featured in national media outlets.