Synopses & Reviews
Contributors include Barbara Kingsolver, W. S. Merwin, Charles Johnson, Patricia Hampl, Mary Gordon, and others.
Synopsis
The Best American series has been the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction since 1915. For each volume, the very best pieces are selected by a leading writer in the field, making the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind.
The Best American Spiritual Writing 2005 includes
Mary Gordon Natalie Goldberg Oliver Sacks Ptolemy Tompkins Patricia Hampl Gary Snyder Charles Johnson Harvey Cox Todd Gitlin Bill McKibben Philip Levine W. S. Merwin and others
Philip Zaleski, editor, is the author of The Recollected Heart, The Book of Heaven, and, most recently, Prayer: A History (with Carol Zaleski). He is a senior editor of Parabola and a research associate in religion at Smith College.
Barry Lopez is the author of Arctic Dreams, the illustrated fable Crow and Weasel, and several essay and short story collections, including About This Life and Resistance. He has received the National Book Award and other honors.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword by Philip Zaleski xi Introduction by Barry Lopez xvii
Christopher Bamford. The Gift of the Call 1 from Parabola
Brian Blanchfield. The Acusmata of Pythagoras 10 from Jubilat
Scott Cairns. Replies to the Immediate 15 from Western Humanities Review
Richard Chess. Kaddish 16 from Image
Robert Cording. Advent Stanzas 18 from Southern Review
Harvey Cox. Best of Intentions 23 from Christian Century
Andy Crouch. The Emergent Mystique 33 from Christianity Today
Brian Doyle. Joyas Voladoras 43 from American Scholar
David James Duncan. The French Guy 46 from Portland
Jean Bethke Elshtain. You Kill It, You Eat It,” and Other Lessons from My Thrifty Childhood 50 from In Character
Margaret Erhart. An Entomologists Dilemma 61 from Turning Wheel
Helen Garner. Sighs Too Deep for Words: On Being Bad at Reading the Bible 65 from Portland
Todd Gitlin. A Skull in Varanasi, a Head in Baghdad 74 from American Scholar
Natalie Goldberg. When the Candle Is Blown Out 79 from Shambhala Sun
Mary Gordon. Appetite for the Absolute 89 from Portland
Patricia Hampl. Pilgrim 98 from Granta
Brooks Haxton. Gift 104 from Atlantic Monthly
Edward Hirsch. Self-Portrait 105 from The New Yorker
Charles Johnson. Dr. Kings Refrigerator 106 from StoryQuarterly
Maria Poggi Johnson. Us and Them 112 from First Things
Heather King. Wonder Bread 119 from The Sun
Philip Levine. The Genius 125 from Georgia Review
Thomas Lynch. Passed On 127 from Christian Century
Bill McKibben. High Fidelity 130 from Christian Century
W. S. Merwin. To the Gods 133 from American Poetry Review
Richard John Neuhaus. Kierkegaard for Grownups 135 from First Things
Oliver Sacks. Speed 149 from The New Yorker
Huston Smith. The Master-Disciple Relationship 168 from Sophia
Gary Snyder. No Shadow 184 from The New Yorker
Dana Tierney. Coveting Lukes Faith 185 from The New York Times Magazine
Ptolemy Tompkins. Two Short Essays 188 from The Sun
Kenneth L. Woodward. The Passions Passionate Despisers 190 from First Things
Charles Wright. Wrong Notes 197 from Virginia Quarterly Review
Franz Wright. Prescience 199 from The New Yorker
Contributors 203 Notable Spiritual Writing of 2004 209