The Best American Spiritual Writing 2004
New York : Houghton Mifflin Co., 2004.
Format: Book
Description: xxvi, 275 pages ; 21 cm.
It is said that we live in a secular age, yet religion and spirituality, belief and practice, are ever more powerful forces in contemporary culture, shaping both personal lives and world events. The newest addition to the acclaimed Best American series reflects this trend, bringing us the year's finest writing about faith and spirituality from a rich array of traditions sure to enrich the lives of all readers.
Included is the work of some of our finest poets -- Mark Doty, W. S. Merwin, Philip Levine -- and most original essayists. Spiritual insight comes in both expected and unexpected places: Thomas Lynch writes of his work as an undertaker, Sallie Tisdale witnesses the miracle of an elephant's birth, and Patricia Monaghan finds consolation in Heisenberg's theory during a period of intense grief.
In his introduction, Jack Miles writes, "American spiritual writing at its best is, in sum, a pluriform, multifarious acknowledgment of discomfiture and an opening of exits into a wider world . . . The reader is led to this volume, I imagine, by the question: 'There must be something more. Where can I find it?' The contributors to this volume answer, in effect: 'You will find it when it finds you.'"
Included is the work of some of our finest poets -- Mark Doty, W. S. Merwin, Philip Levine -- and most original essayists. Spiritual insight comes in both expected and unexpected places: Thomas Lynch writes of his work as an undertaker, Sallie Tisdale witnesses the miracle of an elephant's birth, and Patricia Monaghan finds consolation in Heisenberg's theory during a period of intense grief.
In his introduction, Jack Miles writes, "American spiritual writing at its best is, in sum, a pluriform, multifarious acknowledgment of discomfiture and an opening of exits into a wider world . . . The reader is led to this volume, I imagine, by the question: 'There must be something more. Where can I find it?' The contributors to this volume answer, in effect: 'You will find it when it finds you.'"
Series: Best American series.
Contents:
Forword / by Philip Zaleski -- Introduction / by Jack Miles -- A tTexas childhood / Rick Bass -- Parable / Dan Bellm -- Hidden city / Scott Cairns -- Miss Ivory Broom / Robin Cody -- Here and now we are walking together / Robert Coles -- Parable of the moth / Robert Cording -- The water will hold you: A daughter at prayer / Lindsey Crittenden -- Five to fire / Mark Doty -- Earth music / David James Duncan -- The green-eyed monster: envy is nothing to be jealous of / Joseph Epstein -- Masao Abe: A spiritual friendship / James Fredericks -- Fifteen ways of seeing the light / Peter Friederici -- Judaism beyond words: Conclusion / David Gelernter -- The great spring / Natalie Goldberg -- Essay on snow / Allen Hoey -- Beneath the apple / Andrew Hudgins -- Grandmothers / Pico Iyer -- The lesson / Philip Levine -- Word Hoard / B.K. Loren -- Good grief / Thomas Lynch -- Designer genes / Bill McKibben -- To the fire / W.S. Merwin -- Physics and grief / Patricia Monaghan -- In the beginning was consciousness / Seyyed Hossein Nasr -- The grace of aridity and other comedies / Kathleen Norris -- Annie Mirror Heart / Maura O'Halloran -- Ah, but the breezes ... / Noelle Oxenhandler -- Fighting the noonday devil / R.R. Reno -- For the war dead / Sarah Ruden -- The mind's eye:What the blind see / Oliver Sacks-- The birth / Sallie Tisdale -- God's delight / Miroslav Volf -- Spokane: A triptych / Paul R. Willis -- The visiting / Franz Wright -- Notable spiritual writing of 2003 -- contributors -- Reader's directory.
Subjects:
Spirituality -- Literary collections.
Spiritual life -- Literary collections.
American literature -- 21st century.
Spirituality -- Literary collections.
Spiritual life -- Literary collections.
American literature -- 21st century.
ISBN:
0618443029
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
LITERATURE Essays Bes 2004 | Main (Downtown) | Third Level, Nonfiction | In |
Includes bibliographical references.