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In his enthralling memoir, novelist and Zen Buddhist Shainberg (Ambivalent Zen) explores questions about writing, spiritual practice, and brain damage through his personal relationships with Norman Mailer, Samuel Beckett, and Kyudo Nakagawa. Shainberg points to an early turning point in his life when, during a session with a therapist, he was freed of his impulses and became able to accept the present moment with equanimity. After this experience, he writes of how he conceived of the main tension in his life: the twofold desires to create form out of emptiness, and to see emptiness as an underlying form. Shainberg spends most of the book teasing apart this tension. In his estimation, Mailer and Beckett responded to this tension differently: Mailer embraced form, struggling to make sense of the vicissitudes of the everyday; Beckett embraced emptiness, lingering in the void of meaninglessness. Lurking in the middle between form and emptiness—and calling Shainberg to return to the present moment—is the Zen teacher Kyudo Nakagawa. Shainberg’s enlightening memoir about three transformative relationships is accessible, deceptively simple, and wise. (July)

Reviewed on 03/03/2019 | Details & Permalink

Cheney, a film and TV producer, debuts with the poignant life story of his grandfather, Fred Allen, a piano prodigy who overcame great obstacles to become a successful musician. Raised in poverty in LaGrange, Ga., Allen grew up with a mother and father who thought his musical abilities at the age of three were a curse and so locked up his piano. However, thanks to an encouraging teacher and his own hard work, Allen became set on moving to New York City and was eventually accepted to Juilliard. Cheney, with fawning admiration, quickly moves through Allen’s time in New York: his matriculation to Columbia University after Juilliard—where he met his future wife, Winnie—and his early career as a music producer. Though Allen found great success and eventually won a Grammy for producing the album How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the glamorous lifestyle and social obligations that came from his achievements, coupled with his obsession with work, eventually broke up his marriage. Winnie and his daughter moved back to Georgia, and Allen had to choose: continue to chase his dream or return to his family. Throughout, the hand of providence shadows Allen (in Cheney’s eyes) and eventually guides him home, where he worked with students to form a nationally touring theater troupe. Readers looking for a neatly constructed tale of redemption will enjoy Cheney’s ode to his grandfather. (July)

Reviewed on 03/03/2019 | Details & Permalink

Bookman (God 101), cofounder of adolescent outreach program Eitzah, provides an impractical look at how Judaism might evolve in the near future. His laudable aim is to foster optimism about Judaism’s future by imagining one in which anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, fears about Israel’s continued existence, and assimilation have become less central to the Jewish communal agenda. Bookman’s path toward such a future begins with an analysis of why he believes those concerns are overstated at present. For example, while he notes the recent Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, he distinguishes between acts of an anti-Semite, which will always be a threat, and institutionalized anti-Semitism, which he claims “no longer exists. It is over. Gone.” Offering little in practical steps, Bookman concedes that some of his contentions are unrealistic. For instance, in what he dubs a “crazy idea,” he writes: “What if those millions of souls perished in the Holocaust are already here on earth, people who identify with other religions, or no religion at all?” That leads him to suggest that a mass conversion campaign to bolster Jewish numbers would be converting those with Jewish souls. While Bookman rightly diagnoses many current ills, he fails to lay out any practical plans to implement the changes he suggests. (May)

Reviewed on 03/03/2019 | Details & Permalink

In the fantastic second volume of his Ministry in a Secular Age trilogy, Luther Seminary professor Root (Faith Formation in a Secular Age) analyzes the “vocational identity crisis” faced by many contemporary pastors. Root, drawing on the work of theologian Charles Taylor, writes that “the very idea that there could be a personal God who orders and acts in the cosmos has become unbelievable” and then presents ways in which pastors have effectively reached their congregations despite this societal movement toward individual conceptions of truth. Root offers a historical overview of six pastors who serve as archetypes for their era: Augustine, 12th-century Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket, 19th-century American revivalist Jonathan Edwards, congregationalist Henry Ward Beecher, liberal 20th-century minister Harry Emerson Fosdick, and contemporary Evangelical pastor Rick Warren. Examining how the clerical role has changed, coinciding with changing perceptions of the supernatural, Root traces the pastoral identity across the centuries and provides a composite template for how a pastor can navigate modern concerns. Highlights include Becket’s insistence that priests’ sacramental actions can protect believers from evil spirits, Edwards’s belief that faithful living depends not on “what you do, but how you do it,” and Warren’s conviction that the pastor’s role is to provide resources to help individuals discern their life purpose. Identifying many challenges facing clergy today, Root offers a persuasive vision for how pastors can effectively reach their audience. (July)

Reviewed on 03/03/2019 | Details & Permalink

In this uplifting guide based on Proverbs 23:7, Schuller (You Are Beloved), host of the TV show Hour of Power, encourages Christians to focus on the power of thought to improve happiness and connection to God. Schuller believes he has improved his marriage, parenting, business, and ministry by identifying and changing his own faulty thought patterns. Comparing the mind to a garden that requires tending and care, he writes, “Small thoughts—like a new belief in God, forgiving an offender, not blaming authority figures, or being grateful every day—can also make gigantic changes in your life over time.” He explains how to replace negative thoughts with positive ones by meditating on scriptures and wrestling with their core lessons. Conversely, Schuller believes that adversity should be acknowledged, but should never dominate one’s thinking. While Schuller offer little in the way of practical steps, his methods always push readers toward reconceiving personal setbacks as “a setup for the next chapter in your story.” Each of the book’s chapters conclude with training exercises for reflection and verses for meditation. Any Christians looking for ways to deepen their Bible study will be enlightened by Schuller’s persuasive techniques for pondering scripture. (June)

Reviewed on 03/03/2019 | Details & Permalink

Comedian Griffith and his wife Travis-Griffin give readers a glimpse of the difficulties they endured after the death of their two-year-old daughter, Brittany, in this poignant memoir. Griffith moved to Los Angeles in 1990 to pursue comedy, and his wife and daughter stayed behind in Chicago. As Griffith’s career slowly picked up steam, his daughter began exhibiting signs of Down syndrome. Then, just after Griffith achieved a childhood dream by performing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Brittany was diagnosed with leukemia. As Brittany’s condition quickly worsened, the two lived between L.A. and Chicago as Griffith felt he had to seize his moment of notoriety, but his jokes became increasingly dark as he questioned his faith in God and contemplated why this was happening to him. In alternating sections, Travis-Griffin explains how she began to feel increasingly alone and unappreciated as Griffith doggedly concentrated on his goal of moving the family to L.A. and his next appearance on The Tonight Show. After Brittany’s death a few months after her diagnosis, Griffith and Travis-Griffin’s marriage suffered as both reeled from regrets and pent up frustrations. However, a moment of catharsis came when Griffith shared Brittany’s story on the Moth Radio Hour in 2003 in a confessional performance that helped to heal much of the lingering pain. This powerful, intimate story pulls back the curtains on one marriage’s profound loss. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 04/26/2019 | Details & Permalink

Matthews, a historian of Arthurian legends, and Knight, a researcher of Western magical traditions, team up again (after Arthurian Magic) in this piquant exploration of the Holy Grail and what has happened to those who tried to find it. They center their discussion around three specific retellings of the Grail legend: two 13th-century epics, Sone de Nansay (French) and Der Jüngere Titurel (German), and a 10th-century document purporting to be a letter from the fantastic “Prester John,” the Christian monarch of an unspecified Far Eastern kingdom. (The core of the book is the translation and explication of the three documents.) Matthews and Knight begin with a brief discussion of the history of the home of the Grail as “sacred” or otherwise special space that can be found only by very particular individuals in very particular circumstances. The authors go to great lengths to situate these stories as part of the larger history of the Grail, tying in Arthurian legend, the history of the Crusades, and the Templar knights as they go, making their scholarly examination of literature feel like an attempt to convince readers that the Grail is real. Any reader intrigued by the Holy Grail’s historical trail will love this. (June)

Reviewed on 04/26/2019 | Details & Permalink

Dochuk (From Bible Belt to Sun Belt), associate professor of history at University of Notre Dame, traces the dense web of interconnections between Christianity and the oil industry in America from the Civil War to the early 21st century in this excellent history. The author argues that passion for Christian mission and aggressive natural resource acquisition fueled America’s political and economic dominance during the 20th century, helping naturalize American imperialism as God-ordained. After exploring the early days of oil extraction through the lives of prospectors and businessmen in the 19th century, Dochuk charts trust-busting and labor unrest in the oil industry alongside renewed Christian evangelical fundamentalism between the world wars, and considers the convergence of American oil and missionary interests in the Middle East and South America in the postwar era of Billy Graham and Prosperity Gospel evangelists. Throughout, Dochuk documents dissent and resistance to the brutal labor practices in and environmental devastation from the oil industry since its earliest days. Appendixes, notes, and a selected bibliography will help readers organize and refer to the plethora of people and corporations discussed. Meticulously researched, this is a sobering study of the tightly interwoven forces of capitalism and Christianity that shape American life. (June)

Reviewed on 04/26/2019 | Details & Permalink

Richards, owner of and folk magic teacher at Little Chicago Conjure in Jonesborough, Tenn., presents the charms, conjures, and culture of Appalachia in this enjoyable book meant to “piece together lost works and ways” he was taught by his great-grandmother. Raised in a family with a variety of spiritual influences—including African, European, and Native traditions—Richards paints a very personal portrait of his childhood spiritual education. At home, rituals and superstitions were not thought of as a specific magic system, but rather activities woven into everyday life, which is reflected in Richards’s rambling, conversational style. He organizes the wealth of material into categories that explore how to make use of tools (ribbon, yarn), techniques (fortune telling, reading omens), and remedies (cures for physical and spiritual ailments). For Richards, following natural cycles and engaging in activities such as gardening, farming, and hunting keep him “close to the rhythms and seasons of the hills.” Though seemingly at odds, the Christian religion plays a prominent role in Appalachian magic; Bible verses become templates for spells, and references to God, Jesus Christ, and the saints appear throughout the rituals. Richards lovingly, thoughtfully provides a rare look into the heritage of his people that will appeal to any reader interested in American folk spirituality. (June)

Reviewed on 04/19/2019 | Details & Permalink

Gourgouris (Lessons in Secular Criticism), professor of comparative literature at Columbia Univ., offers a dense, wide-ranging investigation into the political, philosophical, and religious impulse toward unitary, monistic thinking. He lays out his case in a series of essays, the first of which uses the writing and life of Edward Said to argue that what he terms “secular criticism” needs to wrestle with contradictions rather than set up a totalizing philosophies. In the second, Gourgouris draws on the work of French anthropologist Pierre Clastres and antimonarchist Etienne de la Boétie to show how centralizing political power is only possible by creating a group excluded from society whose very exclusion gives them great power. After an essay arguing that Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, who is known for his Marxist critiques of popular culture, should be considered a realist, Gourgouris pivots to religion with a persuasive linguistic analysis about how Paul used Greek to transform the idea of submission to a single God as a form of freedom. The final and longest essay traces the lingering political effects of historical monotheists’ violent suppression of alternative beliefs, including fights over the Trinity and the destruction of idols. Gourgouris’s complex writing requires a high level of specialized knowledge, but scholars in religion and philosophy will find this stimulating. (June)

Reviewed on 04/19/2019 | Details & Permalink