Food For The Soul: Selections From The Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen Writers Workshop [Paperback]

Elizabeth Maxwell (Editor), Susan Shapiro (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2004

"This collection of essays, poems and stories from 25 talented participants in a soup kitchen writers' workshop lives up to its title. The selections are funny, gritty and brutally honest , writing that attests to a raw spirituality formed and informed by life on the street. When these writers are given prompts like "It Was the Best Day," "So I Lied," "September Eleven," "My Best Mistake" or "In My Other Life," they hold nothing back. Peter Nkruma writes about the "delicious fun" he had at the library writing on his Web log a parody of the evangelical Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction, playing God and "rapturing" to the heavens a boozy magazine editor he liked while leaving behind one who ignored articles by African-Americans. Donald Mackey's moving essay on "Working for My Welfare" describes scrounging for a dirty pair of gloves at a cleaning job he needed to keep his food stamps. In his piece on "Recovering," Mackey reflects on how the writers' workshop has changed his life, he is now a licensed minister completing a book and a one-act play. Sometimes sweet and sometimes bitter, this collection is a nutritious "slice of life" from a writers' workshop that's truly in the soul-food business." Publisher's Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This collection of essays, poems and stories from 25 talented participants in a soup kitchen writers' workshop lives up to its title. The selections are funny, gritty and brutally honest—writing that attests to a raw spirituality formed and informed by life on the street. When these writers are given prompts like "It Was the Best Day," "So I Lied," "September Eleven," "My Best Mistake" or "In My Other Life," they hold nothing back. Peter Nkruma writes about the "delicious fun" he had at the library writing on his Web log a parody of the evangelical Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction, playing God and "rapturing" to the heavens a boozy magazine editor he liked while leaving behind one who ignored articles by African-Americans. Donald Mackey's moving essay on "Working for My Welfare" describes scrounging for a dirty pair of gloves at a cleaning job he needed to keep his food stamps. In his piece on "Recovering," Mackey reflects on how the writers' workshop has changed his life—he is now a licensed minister completing a book and a one-act play. Sometimes sweet and sometimes bitter, this collection is a nutritious "slice of life" from a writers' workshop that's truly in the soul-food business.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Seabury Books (January 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596270012
• ISBN-13: 978-1596270015
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,332,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan B. Shapiro is the acclaimed author of FIVE MEN WHO BROKE MY HEART, LIGHTING UP, SECRETS OF A FIX-UP FANATIC, ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR WORD and two novels, SPEED SHRINKING and OVEREXPOSED. She teaches "the instant gratification takes too long" school of writing at The New School and in private classes and workshops. You can visit her at her website Susanshapiro.net or email her directly at [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful collection of writings, June 16, 2008

By 

B. Lewis (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Food For The Soul: Selections From The Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen Writers Workshop (Paperback)

From a soup kitchen, you get some very down-to-earth writings, but they're also very beautiful writings. Diverse as the authors themselves, the poetry and prose in this book is fun to read, revealing, and thought-provoking. It's also very revealing just how deep and wonderful these folks are - don't judge them because they go to a soup kitchen, read their short works and see what's inside driving them to come to a class and learn to share themselves through writing.