Customer Reviews

William James: The Varieties of Religious Experience (Library of America Paperback Classics)

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James investigates the wide range of religious experiences reported by very different religious figures to broaden his understanding of human nature. The quality,care and clarity of James observations is of the highest order.

Just skip the introduction by Jaroslav Pelikan that is unexpectedly self-centered, overbearing and graceless; just the opposite of James, this gentle giant. Pelikan attempts to steer you to unwarranted conclusions about James's views before you start reading. In a dumbfouding feat of editorial arrogance, Pelikan has even deleted from James' original title its second part that I find essential to grasping the spirit of this remarkable effort: "A Study in Human Nature"

This Library of America edition is excellent in size, format and font selection. You can take it anywhere with you. This LoA edition contrasts with the oversized and unwieldy volume published in 2009 by Seven Treasures Publications that I had just bought on Amazon and in which the footnotes are inserted right in the middle of the text. An unreadable first for me. Please beware.

Classic text which gets across a moving view of religious experience. James was a pioneer of his time and truly began what those in academia examine today.