Synopses & Reviews
A new volume of the critically acclaimed spiritual writing series, with an introduction by bestselling author Stephen ProtheroBoasting an impressive selection of personal essays, articles, and poems by today's leading luminaries, The Best Spiritual Writing 2013 captures our nation's spiritual pulse and offers readers an opportunity to explore the most nourishing writings on spirituality published in the past year. As in previous editions, Philip Zaleski draws from a wide range of journals and magazines to build an anthology of stimulating works by some of the nation's most esteemed writers such as Adam Gopnik, Edward Hirsch, and Melissa Range. The result is a book, ideal for gift giving, that will appeal to religious thinkers, atheists, and people of all faiths and beliefs.
Review
Selected Praise for THE BEST SPIRITUAL WRITING Series:
“Zaleski’s compilation of spiritual writings restores ‘best’ to its rightful exceptional place. . . . It is a curious literary party at first glance, but the diverse forms, voices, topics, gradually coalesce into something bigger and more elegant, something spiritual and extraordinary.”
Review
“There is enough here to feed the hungry heart for years to come.”
Review
“Illuminating . . . This anthology, as always, is a rich feast.”
Review
“Zaleski has repeated his annual miracle, uniting another year's worth of various and thought-provoking pieces. Essential for individuals who have read earlier volumes, and an excellent place to start for those who have not.”
Review
“[A] luminous collection.”
Review
“Like a very fine friend returned from a year’s voyaging, laden with delights and treasures to share, Philip Zaleski brings us, here again, another trove of well-wrought, luminous, soul-bracing gifts.”
Review
“[A] reliably bracing volume.”
Review
“Those who embrace variety will find plenty to sink their teeth into.”
Review
Praise for The Best Spiritual Writing of 2013:
"This always-pleasing volume is particularly strong entry in a strong series; for all libraries and individuals seeking the best in spiritual reading."
—Library Journal
Review
Selected Praise for The Best Spiritual Writing Series:
“Zaleskis compilation of spiritual writings restores ‘best to its rightful exceptional place. . . . It is a curious literary party at first glance, but the diverse forms, voices, topics, gradually coalesce into something bigger and more elegant, something spiritual and extraordinary.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Review
“There is enough here to feed the hungry heart for years to come.”
—Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence
Review
“Illuminating . . . This anthology, as always, is a rich feast.”
—National Catholic Reporter
Review
“Zaleski has repeated his annual miracle, uniting another year's worth of various and thought-provoking pieces. Essential for individuals who have read earlier volumes, and an excellent place to start for those who have not.”
—Library Journal, starred review
Review
“[A] luminous collection.”
—Chicago Tribune
Review
“Like a very fine friend returned from a years voyaging, laden with delights and treasures to share, Philip Zaleski brings us, here again, another trove of well-wrought, luminous, soul-bracing gifts.”
—Thomas Lynch, author of Apparition and Late Fictions
Review
“[A] reliably bracing volume.”
—June Sawyers for Booklist, starred review
Review
“Those who embrace variety will find plenty to sink their teeth into.”
—The Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
Introduced by President Jimmy Carter, the latest edition of this excellent annual (America) not only showcases some of the finest essays and poems of the year but also offers astute perceptions on faith and spirituality in modern life that are universal, timeless, and yet deeply personal.
Contributors include Wendell Berry, Natalie Goldberg, Walter Isaacson, Maxine Kumin, Ursula K. LeGuin, and others.
Synopsis
The newest addition to the acclaimed Best American series brings readers the year's best writing about faith and spirituality and is sure to enrich the lives of all readers. Includes writings that reflect Christian, Muslim, Jewish, secular, and pan-Hindu perspectives.
Synopsis
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 souls 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 Isaacsons brilliant and provocative portrait of Einsteins religious lifea 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. Housmans 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.”
About the Author
Philip Zaleski is the author and editor of many books on religion and spirituality, most recently Prayer: A History with Carol Zaleski. He lives in Massachusetts.
Stephen Prothero is a professor in the department of religion at Boston University and the author of numerous books on religion in America.