Anyone who attempts to biography Jesus is bound to fail. An author is bound to project herself or himself onto the narrative. That’s why all theology eventually turns into autobiography. In Parini’s work, clearly, both the object (Jesus of Nazareth) and the subject (Parini the author) are worth learning from, and the reader can find much to aspire to. Much of late twentieth and early twenty-first century studies on the Jesus of history devolve into…
When was the last time you heard the word “polio?” It was probably in reference to a vaccine, not the disease. So thoroughly have the effects of polio vaccination been felt that less than 2,000 cases exist each year and only in remote regions of Nigeria, India, and Pakistan. Ridding the world of it forever (in other words, complete eradication, like with smallpox) is in sight. Polio once caused swimming pools and movie theaters to…
I’m often concerned that American culture is increasingly splitting into two groups that don’t interact much. Our politics and our regionalism tends to reinforce that. There are a few voices which seem to traverse the divide, and Vance’s is one of them. Specifically, he traverses the Appalachia/Rust-Belt divide with Northeastern elites. As such, he can speak to both audiences at the same time while enlightening us all about his experiences. Vance’s family life was incredibly…
Do you ever wonder whether our computer technology and the Internet are making us better as people? Or do they make us worse off? Are we becoming smarter or more dumb? What happens to our brains when we use the Internet? Carr explores these questions and more in this Pulitzer-Prize-finalist book. Carr borrows heavily from Marshall McLuhan, the scholar whose foresight in the 1960s defined the philosophy of electronic media. He also borrows from modern…
In today’s world, environmentalism is still controversial, although it’s becoming more popular (witness the growth of the Green Party in Europe’s recent elections). Environmentalism and economics are often counterposed against each other as if one loses when the other wins. In 1962, Rachel Carson wrote this book that brought environmental concerns to the fore. She contended that taking care of the plants and animals around us is a worthwhile project. For the most part, smart…
Have you ever felt like your life is an unsolved mystery, full of dispersed, broken parts that need reassembling? Have you ever felt like a sense of truth and order – indeed a sense of God – was far away and like chaos was all too near? That’s the situation that faces the main character in Morrison’s masterpiece. Milkman Dead – yes, that’s his real name – is confronted by a world in which everything…
Is it fair to write a review about a book on writing reviews? Perhaps not, but I will attempt the feat nonetheless. In this work, British author Celia Brayfield offers her readers wisdom and experiences from her career of writing arts reviews for periodicals. (She has since moved on to writing full books.) She spends first eight of the ten chapters sharing the rules of the road for writing arts reviews. She fills in these…
A Novel of Saint Paulby Jay PariniCopyright (c) 2019.ISBN13: 9780385522786Page count: 349Genre: Historical Fiction, Religious Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to hear an honest account of Saint Paul’s life? I mean, one can only glean so much from the theology of the New Testament; I’m left wondering: What would Paul say if I had a beer with him? Jay Parini, a Guggenheim Fellow, pursues creative writing in the form of poetry, biography,…
by Harper LeeHarperCollinsCopyright (c) 2015ISBN13: 9780062409850Page count: 278Genre: Fiction, Sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee is famous for writing only one novel – the blazingly successful To Kill a Mockingbird. This work, published decades after TKAM, is a sequel that was written before. On its own, it is not a strong literary work and was rejected by publishers. Fortunately for us, the publisher suggested that she explore the circumstances that would make this…