The Mystic in the Rye: JD Salinger’s Religious Fiction
The one thing that seems able to tame even a hardened cynic like Holden Caufield, in the least overtly religious Salinger book, is an encounter with the innocence of childhood; especially children at play. It is this quest for lost innocence that defines the spiritual trajectory of Salinger’s most memorable characters. They are all teachers, parents, players, children-at-heart.
The Gospel of Contradiction: An Interview with Mary Gordon
Why is the character of Jesus so powerful? Why is he such a hit? Bestselling writer Mary Gordon re-reads the Gospels, asking these questions, among others, and trying to figure out why fundamentalist readings of scripture, grounded in fear and rage, have come to dominate the understanding of religion in this country.
American Fever: A Tale of Romance and Pestilence
An online novel about a flu pandemic blurs the boundaries between real “flu-blogging” and the dystopic world of its blogger protagonist. And it exposes the cultural anxiety, both religious and secular, that disease unleashes.
Chabon, Safran-Foer, Krauss—the “New Yiddishists”—Don't Speak Yiddish
On Vanity Fair's profile of the post-Roth and Bellow generation of Jewish novelists.
Boy Gets Boy, Saves Earth: A Gay Christian Writer’s Plan to Change the World
Perry Moore, ardent Christian and author of Hero, believes that the time has come for the younger generation to supplant the older generation of bigots.
The Untold Story of The Greatest Yiddish Poet in America
Peter Manseau’s first novel, Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter, takes on themes of Jewish-Christian enmity, the trials of translation, and the idea of language as a virtual homeland.
Conservative Christian Book on Obama’s Faith
Author Stephen Mansfield is getting hate mail. Why does the religious right think that this ex-pastor will roast in hell?
House Made of Words: Momaday’s Novel Turns 40
House Made of Dawn inaugurated the so-called “Native American Renaissance”...
Mark Twain’s Blasphemy
A consideration of the legacy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, on the eve of the 123rd anniversary of its publication.