The best American spiritual writing 2008 / edited by Philip Zaleski ; introduction by Jimmy Carter.
Material type:
TextSeries: Heritage book series. American seriesPublication details: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 2008.Description: xvii, 229 p. ; 22 cmISBN: - 0618833749
- 9780618833740
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 810.8 B561 | Available | 33111005537150 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
In his introduction to this volume, President Jimmy Carter writes that The Best American Spiritual Writing "approaches the writing of both poetry and prose as a spiritual discipline, a way to explore the mysteries of the soul and the soul's relationship with God." As always, editor Philip Zaleski has assembled a wide-ranging and wonderfully eclectic collection that delves headlong into that spiritual discipline, looking to inspire, provoke, and offer insight into modern spirituality and religion.
Here you will find Walter Isaacson's brilliant and provocative portrait of Einstein's religious life--a cross between his parents' secularism, his native Judaism, and his Catholic grade-school education. Drawing from his own experience of trying to inhabit multiple worlds, Noah Feldman examines the difficulties facing faith communities as they adhere to tradition yet also strive to be modern, in "Orthodox Paradox." When "Meeting the Chinese in St. Paul," Natalie Goldberg, with the help of a broken rhinoceros fan, grapples with this question: how should I live, knowing the world is a confusing place? Pico Iyer weighs in on his tranquil retreat, the holiest place in Japan; Oliver Sacks gives a moving account of a man with retrograde amnesia, striving for a meaningful life devoid of memory; and Ursula K. Le Guin passionately explains, as only she can, the appeal and subtle morality of A. E. Housman's "A Shropshire Lad: XXXII."
Committed to literary excellence, this "invaluable collection" (Library Journal) also features poetry from distinguished voices such as Wendell Berry, Maxine Kumin, John Updike, and Charles Wright. As Zaleski writes in his foreword, The Best American Spiritual Writing 2008 proves that the writing in this edition is a stirring "medium for contemplating, via the things of the flesh, the things of the spirit."
Faith and quantum theory / Stephen M. Barr -- Sabbaths 2005 / Wendell Berry -- Jerusalem Manor / Ben Birnbaum -- The end of Advent / Joseph Bottum -- Who am I? / John Coats -- Lost river / David James Duncan -- A man for all reasons / Paul Elie -- Aubade in autumn / Peter Everwine -- Lullaby / Kate Farrell -- Orthodox paradox / Noah Feldman -- Meeting the Chinese in St. Paul / Natalie Goldberg -- Carol of the infuriated hour / David Brendan Hopes -- Einstein & faith / Walter Isaacson -- The magic mountain / Pico Iyer -- The closest to love we ever get / Heather King -- The domestic arrangement / Maxine Kumin -- About a poem / Ursula K. Le Guin -- Cell group James Loney -- I met a man who has seen the ivory-billed woodpecker, and this is what he told me / Nancy Lord -- Into the oblivion / Thomas Lynch -- Keeping faith / Adam Minter -- A university of a particular kind / Richard John Neuhaus -- XYZ / Robert Pinsky -- Atheism is wasted on the nonbeliever / Richard Rodriguez -- The abyss / Oliver Sacks -- I'm never sure about the word "apotheosis" / Nick Samaras -- The saint of Worcester / Mathew N. Schmalz -- Only a mother's love / Kurt Shaw -- Living / Jason Shinder -- Schooling at home / Sally Thomas -- Signs of design / J. Scott Turner -- Madurai / John Updike -- Love bade me welcome / Christian Wiman -- Littlefoot, 14 / Charles Wright -- Why Holocaust denial undermines Islam / Hamza Yusuf.