An Author's Lament.

Time.com recently ran a feature story entitled "Mother Teresa's Crisis of Faith." The article was the cover feature on the magazine's newsstand edition and carried the hilariously alarmist words The Secret Life of Mother Teresa with a dutifully mournful photograph of her craggy visage staring straight into the camera.

Content aside, the article concerned a new book to be released a couple of weeks later about some letters Mother Teresa had written. Apparently, she doubted her faith from time to time, thus creating the "secret life" brandished on the magazine (but, honestly, this just lets me know she was the real deal--only phonies never question their faith). It sounded like an intriguing book so, two days after the release date of September 4, I paid a visit to a nearby Big Box Retailer to thumb through the volume and see if it was worth purchasing.

I wasn't met with an enormous display of them, which I'd expected. Instead, I was walloped over the head by works from a former president and a former not-doctor-but-played-one-on-TV. Mother Teresa was nowhere to be found. I visited the customer service desk, inquired about the book, and was told that this particular Big Box Retailer was not carrying it--all the copies they were getting were special ordered.

My lament? If this woman, who is an actual historical figure, well on her way to legitimate sainthood, who was featured on the cover of Time magazine, and who has plenty of other good-selling books to her name...if this woman can't get retail shelf space, what kind of chance do I have?