The Best Spiritual Writing 1999 (Best Spiritual Writing) by Philip Zaleski  (2)
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The Best American Spiritual Writing 2006 (The Best American Series) by Peter J. Gomes  (1)
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The Best Spiritual Writing 1998 (Best American Spiritual Writing) by Philip Zaleski (2)
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The Best Spiritual Writing 2002 (Best Spiritual Writing) by Philip Zaleski (4)
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This third installment in Philip Zaleski's The Best Spiritual Writing series continues to live up to its admirers' expectations. What makes spiritual writing stand up and deliver is not exotic epiphanies in reclusive settings or the recounting of ecstatic communions. The real litmus test is how the narrator can take a flesh-and-bones life story and craft it into something that has spiritual meaning for the collective. "For myself I trust the path through the daily muck much more than the route that goes around it or above it or passes through it like an angel gliding transparently through a solid door," explains Thomas Moore in his Introduction (which, incidentally, warrants inclusion in The Best Spiritual Writing award in and of itself).
This third installment in Philip Zaleski's The Best Spiritual Writing series continues to live up to its admirers' expectations. What makes spiritual writing stand up and deliver is not exotic epiphanies in reclusive settings or the recounting of ecstatic communions. The real litmus test is how the narrator can take a flesh-and-bones life story and craft it into something that has spiritual meaning for the collective. "For myself I trust the path through the daily muck much more than the route that goes around it or above it or passes through it like an angel gliding transparently through a solid door," explains Thomas Moore in his Introduction (which, incidentally, warrants inclusion in The Best Spiritual Writing award in and of itself).
Year after year, this series becomes more solid and trustworthy--like a spiritual teacher who always has something age-old to offer in contemporary language. Ann Hood goes in "Search of Miracles" to heal her father of cancer and discovers the true meaning of miracles. In sparse, clean writing Natalie Goldberg tells the story of traveling to Japan to pay homage to her deceased Zen teacher. Jacques Lusseyran speaks from a blind man's perspective, helping us to see the light within instead of always relying on the light beyond. Other contributors include Linda Hogan, John Updike, Annie Dillard, Bill McKibben, and Mary Gordon. --Gail Hudson
From Publishers Weekly
This anthology easily lives up to the high standards set by the 1998 and 1999 editions, featuring essays, poems and a few genre-defying pieces that were originally published not only in religious periodicals, but also in literary journals and magazines such as Atlantic Monthly and Salon. While the spiritual orientations of the writers vary widely, certain unifying themes, such as death and a love of the outdoors, emerge. Christopher Bamford's "In the Presence of Death," James Van Tholen's "Surprised by Death," Ann Hood's "In Search of Miracles" and Richard John Neuhaus's "Born Toward Dying" all examine the spiritual transformation that terminal illness yields for the dying and those who love them. Deborah Gorlin's "Twice Woods Hebrew," Linda Hogan's "The Great Without," Robert Reese's "Rivers and Mountains" and Marjorie Sandor's "Waiting for a Miracle: A Jew Goes Fishing" are just a few that consider spiritual images and lessons found in nature. The book's timely preoccupation with these physical realities taps into a contemporary desire among evangelicals and Buddhists alike (both of whom are well represented in this book, along with Catholics, liberal Christians, Jews and skeptics) to elicit spiritual insights from everyday experiences and to understand the mind-body-spirit connection. Many essays amuse while they instruct particularly Mary Gordon's "Prayers" and Harvey Cox's "The Market as God"Dwhile others evoke tears (see not only the essays on death but also Jim Schley's "Devotional"). All of the contributions challenge assumptions and encourage new ways of seeing, thereby feeding the spirit. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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