Flying, Falling, Catching

Flying, Falling, Catching: An Unlikely Story of Finding Freedom

by Henri Nouwen

Henri Nouwen was a Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian. Throughout his lifetime he wrote 39 books and countless articles. Christianity Today called him “one of the world’s greatest spiritual writers”.

This book, Flying, Falling, Catching: An Unlikely Story of Finding Freedom, released about 25 years after his death, is a departure from his other writing. Toward the end of his life Henri became fascinated with the Flying Rodleighs, a traveling trapeze troupe, and planned to write a book of creative nonfiction that would appeal equally to people of faith and to secular readers. He wrote bits and pieces but never finished the book. In 2017 the Henri Nouwen Legacy Fund asked Carolyn Whitney-Brown to “do something creative” with Henri’s unpublished trapeze writings. This book is the result of her efforts.