Dissent from the Homeland-PB

Three of these pieces (from Jean Baudrillard, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Slavoj Zizek) actually originate outside the homeland, but readers who find even the word""homeland"" slightly Orwellian will find kindred spirits in this collection of essays by theologians, literary scholars and academics from other fields. In an angry introduction, Lentricchia, a professor of literature at Duke, lambastes America's""refusal to take any responsibility for September 11""; Hauerwas, a theologian at Duke, more temperately reminds readers that""Christianity is a tradition of peace."" Some of the contributors are well known: Wendell Berry calls for self-criticism and self-correction by the West; Fredric Jameson accuses the media of hype in the wake of the attacks on New York and Washington. Peter Ochs relates the attacks to the Chorban, the destruction of the ancient Jewish temples. Readers impatient with what they may see as jingoism and vengefulness in the wake of September 11 will find their thoughts and feelings echoed in these thoughtful, hard-hitting essays. B&w photos.