Original RBL Reviews
Becoming American?: The Forging of Arab and Muslim Identity in Pluralist America
Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad. Baylor Univ., $19.95 (130p) ISBN 978-1-60258-406-8
This slim book by Haddad (Muslim Women in America), a professor of the history of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations at Georgetown University, briskly provides a snapshot of the ethnic, historical, and political influences on practitioners of Islam in America today. Haddad quickly moves the reader through a history of immigration from Islamic areas, parsing and nuancing the diversity of these immigrants over time. Next she examines what Muslim intellectuals have said about social pluralism and Islam’s compatibility with it. Finally, she looks at the wish for a “moderate Islam” in post-9/11 America. Haddad knows her stuff, having written about Islam in the West for 30 years, and it shows in the footnotes and bibliography that make up close to a quarter of the book. She offers a historical perspective for understanding the emergence and appeal of political Islam as a distinct alternative for Muslim countries in the postcolonial 20th century. A highly recommended quick read, good for libraries and anyone interested in a better-informed understanding of multiethnic, multireligious America. (Oct.)
The Gospel According to Twilight: Women, Sex, and God
Elaine A. Heath. Westminster John Knox, $15 paper (176p)
ISBN 978-0-6642-3678-6
The theological “good news” about the bestselling Twilight series of vampire novels, according to ordained Methodist minister and Southern Methodist University professor Heath, is that “life is sacred,” and vampires are models of grace, social justice, and idyllic families. The bad news is the series’ representation of gender differences. For instance, not a single female character is simultaneously single, happy, and intelligent nor in possession of a sense of humor; Edward, the romantic hero, frequently behaves like a sociopath. With wry and incisive writing, Heath reflects theologically on salvation, temptation, desire, grace, conversion, and the meaning of “forbidden fruit” in the books. Despite the series’ often retrograde narratives about sexuality and gender, Heath optimistically argues that Christians have much to learn from the Cullens, the morally upstanding vampire family of the series. They transcend their condition to build “an intentional community of love” and exemplify compassion, inclusion, and peaceful co-existence with humans and other predatory vampires. Heath avoids stale insights, claiming that Twilight appeals to “the spiritual quest and uncertainties of an entire generation” that is suspicious of organized religion. (Sept.)
Through the Storm, Through the Night: A History of African American Christianity
Paul Harvey. Rowman & Littlefield, $35 (224p) ISBN 978-0-7425-6473-2
This deceptively slim book covers an enormous amount of historical terrain as an overview of African-American faith in America, touching a staggering number of major developments without exhaustively detailing them. Harvey, a professor of history at the University of Colorado, begins by explaining how the slave trade permanently altered religion for African-Americans, then moves on quickly to how the black church later provided cultural survival strategies. The same colonies that argued that the Bible sanctioned slavery hosted Protestant evangelical revivals where African-American Christianity was born. The book expertly pulls together the individual stories of well-known historical figures whose lives were shaped in black churches, the significance of syncretism in African and Caribbean-based religions as reflections of some elements of Christian theology, and the spread of gospel music as a new and influential part of American popular culture. There are some repetitive passages on Voodoo and Yoruba traditions, but the book is almost entirely a good, rigorous starting point for those unfamiliar with the place of African-American Christianity in America’s history. (Sept.)
A Different Kind of Cell: The Story of a Murderer Who Became a Monk
W. Paul Jones. Wm. B. Eerdmans, $14 paper (134p) ISBN 978-0-8028-6651-1
In his account of the life and death of Clayton Fountain, once deemed the most dangerous man in the U.S. prison system, Jones (An Eclectic Almanac for the Faithful: People, Places and Events that Shape Us), a minister turned Catholic priest and spiritual director, illustrates that grace can penetrate humanity’s darkest corners. Fountain murdered five people, including a prison guard, and was deemed so unmanageable that he was kept in a specially built isolation cell for the last 21 years of his life. While there, Fountain found Christ, converted to Roman Catholicism, and encountered Jones, a priest who befriended him through phone calls, letters, and conversations via the food slot in Fountain’s cell. Fountain gradually turned his prison experience into a form of hermitage. His spiritual journey included pursuing a master’s degree in religious studies from Catholic Distance University and ended with his acceptance, shortly before his death, as a Solitary Family Brother of Assumption Abbey in Missouri. A bleak story, this book argues against the death penalty by illuminating the potential for divine mercy and redemption in even the most hardened of hearts. (Sept.)
The Sky Is Not Falling: Living Fearlessly in These Turbulent Times
Charles Colson. Worthy Publishing, $22.99 (244p) ISBN 978-1-936034-54-3
Former Nixon aide and Prison Fellowship founder Colson (Born Again) delivers a strongly worded attack on postmodernism, which he sees as the foundational cause for the divisive political climate and the societal spin into moral depravity in our country today. In this book, a compilation of articles originally written for the magazine Christianity Today, Colson charges that a dissolution of our “communal sense of moral absolutes” has been aided by a laundry list of factors, including: diversity training, Darwinism, contemporary advertising, the sexual and/or violent nature of modern entertainment, emergence of a teen culture devoid of adult supervision, and a general acceptance of vulgar language and dress. Despite this bleak outlook, Colson argues that these societal failures can certainly, and only, be corrected by a return to biblical values by Christians and non-Christians alike. Colson acknowledges the perception that evangelicals are intolerant and coercive, yet he advocates argumentative persuasion to advance biblical worldviews in order to reset the nation’s moral compass. While editing and revision have been applied since initial publication, this assembling of individual pieces has resulted in some redundancy and at least one contradiction on the moral question of whether the ends justify the means. (Sept.)
Every Day a Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week
Joel Osteen. Faith Words, $24.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-89296-991-3
The smiling TV preacher from Houston’s mega-congregation Lakewood Church is back with original publisher FaithWords, but little else has changed in Osteen’s newest, right down to the cover shot. Maybe he’s a little more confident and confessional (“I don’t have to apologize because I smile all the time. I’m wearing my blessings well.”). Osteen may have a telegenic presence (a medium more suitable for him than books) and a successful marketing operation that helps him sell many books, but beyond that, people like his self-helpy Dr. Phil-with-Bible-sprinkles affirmations. Much like Oprah, Osteen is a good measure of what people want from religion: enough comfort and everyday advice to make it through the week until Friday. It may be theology lite, hold the prophetic thunder, but it does touch on religion’s big themes: suffering, gratitude, repentance for wrongdoing, and praise for the goodness of God. (Sept. 13)
Sneak Peeks: Religion Book Reviews Coming in PW September 12
Faith No More: Why People Reject Religion
Phil Zuckerman. Oxford Univ., $24.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-19-974001-7
In this sociological study of “apostates,” defined as religious people who later become atheists, Zuckerman, a professor of sociology at Pitzer College, interviews former adherents from a variety of religions—among them Muslims, Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses—and examines their religious histories and motivations for rejecting belief. Though apostates are a steadily growing category of the American religious landscape, little research focuses on them and much of the public still mistrusts them. Though much work remains to be done on the topic, Zuckerman’s interviews and analysis are an intriguing contribution to the literature, covering everything from a list of the main reasons people leave their religions (parents, friends, education, personal misfortunes, and sex all feature prominently) to a correlation between secularization and women entering the workforce. If anything, the book’s greatest flaw is its brevity: the conclusion, for example, hints at a comparison between apostates in America and atheists elsewhere, which would have been an interesting topic for further exploration. Nevertheless, Zuckerman’s solid research and insights make this book an important contribution to the field and a thoroughly fascinating read. (Nov.)
I Am in Here: The Journey of a Child with Autism Who Cannot Speak but Finds Her Voice
Elizabeth M. Bonker and Virginia G. Breen. Revell, $16.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-8007-2071-1
Thirteen-year-old Bonker has autism, cannot speak, and yet writes poetry to express her keen intellect and sense of humor. She is quite expressive and completely aware of her surroundings (and how people react to her), as her writing reveals. Throughout her story, Bonker’s mother, Breen, tells what it’s like for Elizabeth and another child, Charles, who also has autism, to live the fullest lives they can with their condition.In an engaging, heartwarming (and heartbreaking) book, this mother/daughter writing team completely captures the struggles and the triumphs of living, with grit and grace, beyond a diagnosis. Readers will find themselves up close and personal, getting lots of questions answered about autism in general and how this mysterious condition changes lives every day. Bonker’s courageous spirit is contagious and will leave readers hoping and praying for a cure to come soon. (Oct.)
A First Look at the Stars: Starred Reviews Coming in PW September 12
Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor
Jana Riess. Paraclete, $16.99 trade paper (192p) ISBN 978-1-55725-660-7
Punchy humor and unpretentious inquisitiveness combine in this absorbing memoir in which former PW editor Riess (What Would Buffy Do?) commits to both adopting and studying a new religious practice each month for a year, while simultaneously reflecting on her spiritual progress. Choosing such diverse disciplines as fasting “like a Muslim during Ramadan,” exploring lectio divina, observing an Orthodox Jewish Sabbath, practicing Benedictine hospitality, and engaging in the Liturgy of the Hours, the author shares frustrations and insights in a manner likely to amuse and comfort readers, especially those who have attempted such exercises and also found them challenging. For example, Riess’s description of her internal dialogue during Centering Prayer, concludes, “ ‘Shut the hell up!’ yells Spiritual Mind,” while her experience of practicing mindfulness, with annoying help from the never sainted Brother Lawrence, leads to a sympathetic observation that he’s “an underappreciated housewife.” Supporting quotes from saints and writers (St. John Chrysostom, Dorothy Day, Thornton Wilder) pepper the text. The author’s declared “failures” make her a sympathetic witness, while such “successes” as her description of how “[g]ratitude practically tackles me,” prove genuinely moving. A witty, inspiring read.(Nov.)
All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir
Brennan Manning with John Blase. David C. Cook, $22.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-4347-6418-8
Manning (The Ragamuffin Gospel) sums up this reluctant memoir: “I am alive, but it’s been hard.” Weathered and tired, Manning narrates his life through a cast of seminal players who have defined it, for better or worse, including an abusive mother. His dispassionate voice evokes trust. When attempting to articulate his relentless battle with alcoholism, he writes that the telling of it “feels a weak attempt" but recounts these struggles lucidly to lay bare "the thick darkness that was always behind any light in my life.” The greatest regret in his life has been that he “did not know how to be married.” (He and his wife Roslyn were divorced after 16 years.) At points the narration feels tired and obligatory, as if he simply doesn’t want to talk anymore. Conversely, that is the book’s appeal. There’s no cutting corners, no spinmeistering. If the book could be defined as a psalm, it would read, “How pleasant it is when fellow travelers of faith can read another’s story and hear the ring of truth and, conquering that, still believe.”(Oct.)
Children’s Religion/Spirituality: Original RBL Reviews
The Shabbat Princess.
Amy Meltzer, illus. by Martha Avilés. Kar-Ben, $17.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7613-5142-9 $7.95 paper 978-0-7613-5106-1
Meltzer (Mezuzah on the Door) illuminates the concept of hiddur mitzvah, the idea that using objects of beauty during religious observances enhances religious practice. Young Rosie wants to make her family’s weekly observance of Shabbat extra special by doing more than just eating from their best dishes. She invites “the Shabbat Princess,” along with the Shabbat Queen, and she enjoins her parents to help make their dinner more fitting for a princess. Bringing out the crystal candlesticks and shining the silver Kiddush cup reminds Rosie’s parents that their weekly celebration deserves a little sprucing up, that the return of Shabbat every Friday evening is like a regular visit from an honored guest and “deserves extra special treatment.” Illustrations by Avilés (Fiesta Dress: A Quinceañera Tale)--in muted earth tones, pinks and purples, featuring lush textiles--bring alive the preparation of the evening meal. This appealing enactment of a Talmudic principle will appeal to early grade readers. Ages 3-8. (Sept.)
Thank You, God: A Lift-the-Flap Book (from Kids Around the World)
Allia Zobel Nolan, illus. by Miki Sakamoto. Zonderkidz, $6.99 paper (16p) ISBN 978-0-310-72264-9
A round-the-world travelogue by Nolan, a prolific author of books for children and adults, this lift-the-flap picture book dramatizes scenes from every inhabited continent. From traditional celebrations to natural elements, from lanterns in China to tulips in Holland, from “Lady Liberty” to “elephants and zebras and pink skies that end our days,” Sakamoto’s (Jake's Pirate Adventure) vibrant yet simple illustrations focus on joyous-looking children playing or engaged in family activities. Each scene shows them expressing gratitude toward God by appreciating unique aspects of their cultures. The story suggests that though from different countries, backgrounds, and religions, people are united by a feeling of the presence of God. A colorful introduction to gratitude, tolerance, and world geography for preschoolers of all ethnic backgrounds. Ages 3-up. (Sept.)
Smack-Dab in the Middle of God’s Love
Brennan Manning and John Blase, illus. by Nicole Tadgell. Tommy Nelson, $14.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4003-1713-4
Manning’s familiar character and alter ego Willie Juan is now the age of a grandfather, and he and his wife Ana let the little children come unto them in their home in the Mexican village of Hopi. Ana makes sopapillas, Willie Juan offers the children a simple lesson: you are always smack-dab in the middle of Abba’s (God’s) love. Manning offers a characteristic message of reassurance that will speak to many who are no longer children. Tadgell’s illustrations make that message even friendlier; her color paintings spill across spreads and are filled with attention-grabbing detail, smiling children, and irresistible animals: burros, hummingbirds, and very friendly dogs. Fans of Manning (The Ragamuffin Gospel) will like his first children’s book, which captures his core themes. But readers need not know his work for adults to enjoy his essentially simple message for children of all ages. Ages 4-up. (Sept.)
On the Virtual Shelves: Web Exclusive Religion Book Reviews
Aleph
Paulo Coelho, trans. from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa (Knopf, Sept.)
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-307-70018-6
Mary I: England's Catholic Queen
John Edwards (Yale Univ., Sept.)
