The Best American Spiritual Writing 2008

The Best American Spiritual Writing

by Philip Zaleski (Editor)

In his introduction to this volume, President Jimmy Carter writes that The Best American Spiritual Writing “approaches the writing of both poetry and prose as a spiritual discipline, a way to explore the mysteries of the soul and the soul’s relationship with God.” As always, editor Philip Zaleski has assembled a wide-ranging and wonderfully eclectic collection that delves headlong into that spiritual discipline, looking to inspire, provoke, and offer insight into modern spirituality and religion.
Here you will find Walter Isaacson’s brilliant and provocative portrait of Einstein’s religious life—a cross between his parents’ secularism, his native Judaism, and his Catholic grade-school education. Drawing from his own experience of trying to inhabit multiple worlds, Noah Feldman examines the difficulties facing faith communities as they adhere to tradition yet also strive to be modern, in “Orthodox Paradox.” When “Meeting the Chinese in St. Paul,” Natalie Goldberg, with the help of a broken rhinoceros fan, grapples with this question: how should I live, knowing the world is a confusing place? Pico Iyer weighs in on his tranquil retreat, the holiest place in Japan; Oliver Sacks gives a moving account of a man with retrograde amnesia, striving for a meaningful life devoid of memory; and Ursula K. Le Guin passionately explains, as only she can, the appeal and subtle morality of A. E. Housman’s “A Shropshire Lad: XXXII.”

Committed to literary excellence, this “invaluable collection” (Library Journal) also features poetry from distinguished voices such as Wendell Berry, Maxine Kumin, John Updike, and Charles Wright. As Zaleski writes in his foreword, The Best American Spiritual Writing 2008 proves that the writing in this edition is a stirring “medium for contemplating, via the things of the flesh, the things of the spirit.”

Genres: Essays, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Religion, Theology

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2008

About the author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Z...

Excerpts from The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams available here:

http://chronicle.com/article/Oxfords-...

http://us.macmillan.com/excerpt?isbn=...

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I'm not mistaken, they phased out the 'spiritual writing' book series eventually, and reading this one, I understand why! The writing as such isn't the issue; some of the selections are by Pulitzer and Pushcart-winning writers, but in a way, that was the problem - it felt like someone wanted to include certain luminaries and then didn't much care whether they were writing about home-schooling or a cancer journey rather than an actual reflection on spirituality in some form. I don't know whether that's more due to editorial choices or whether my view of what counts as spiritual is too limited (though I kind of doubt that), but I thought a better name for this book might have been "Best American ruminations about philosophy and its history." From my perspective, it was very academic, very much a slog, didn't give me new perspectives on any religion or other spiritual tradition, and didn't make me feel anything, which, for spiritual writing, would be my main critique.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful, thought provoking collection of essays and poetry! I got it in particular to read Christian Wiman's essay "Love Bade me Welcome," (which funny enough you can find online), but so many were delightful and challenging. I so wish I had more time to stew and chew and reflect on them more.

[M.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first couple pieces in this collection didn't impress me. They seemed to be advocating some sort of quasi-new-age spiritualtiy. Toward the middle, though, I found some pieces to get excited about. These include, but are not limited to: Joseph Bottom's "The End of Advent," on how to increase the meaning of Christmas by decreasing the time we spend in its festivities, Noah Feldman's "Orthodox Paradox," in which he discusses what it's like living as an orthodox Jew in our modern world -- I could relate to this one, being a Mormon, and living by a strict behavioral code myself -- Pico Iyer's "The Magic Mountain," about the intrusions of modern advertising culture on a mountain monastery in Japan, Thomas Lynch's "Into the Oblivion," an exploration of death and its meaning to the living, and Oliver Sack's "The Abyss," which I'm not sure is spiritual writing, but an interesting portrait of a man with no short term memory, nonetheless. There were so many more pieces worth reading, but unfortunately, I can't mention them all, or I'll just be giving an abbreviated Table of Contents. I don't much care for poetry, but my favorite poem of the collection is "I'm Never Sure about the Word 'Apotheosis,'" by Nick Samaras. This a collection worth reading and putting on your bookshelf.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really do like essays. I can learn a little bit about a subject and then figure out if I want to know more. I have met some of my favorite authors through collections like this one, for example Natalie Goldberg. Then there are the authors like Pico Iyer, whose work I haven't read in years, but in this book, I got to encounter him again.

This is the fifth volume of this series I have added to my shelves here. I have enjoyed everyone of them and the ones I read before. I go back and dip into my collection whenever I have a few minutes to reread a poem or essay.

Besides the authors already mentioned, I was glad to encounter Joseph Bottum, David James Duncan and Hamza Yusef in this volume. If you are at all interested in good writing about religion, consider picking up one of this series.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of essays, poems and reflections -- not religious per se, but certainly indicative of Belief. Zaleski clarifies in his intro: "By spiritual writing, I mean writing that sheds light upon the life of the soul, that reveals the manifold ways human beings repsond to truth, beauty, and goodness and the depth and mystery and suffering and glory of our relationship to God." One favorite poem included here is XYZ by Robert Pinsky and I enjoyed the essay "Einstein and Faith" which first appeared in Time magazine. "The Lost River" has a Native American spirituality and "The Closest to Love We Ever Get" is about finding the sacred amidst the shabby. This was the 10th anniversary edition of this publication and it's a good one.

[Baxter Clare Trautman · Rating 1 out of 5]

In my mind "spiritual" is "of the spirit", "religious" is "of religion", and while there were 3 or 4 spiritual pieces in this compilation, it would have been more aptly named The Best American Religious Writing.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This well-curated selection of articles will find itself enjoyed by all who open its pages. Although there are a couple of pieces that I found ponderous, and the poetry included was mostly atrocious (poetry died many years ago, it seems) I thought that this was, overall, a stellar collection.

[Salem · Rating 3 out of 5]

More diverse than I expected, and definitely a good sampling.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easier to connect to than last years version

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read while visiting Mindy at Stanford.

[Colleen Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of thought-provoking essays and poetry.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite in this annual series, but still good stuff. "The Closest We Ever Get to Love," an essay by Heather King, is a keeper.