's Best of 2001
Senior editor for Parabola magazine Philip Zaleski has a finely tuned sense of strong writing and strong spirit, as evidenced in the fifth installment of his highly esteemed Best Spiritual Writing series. The introduction by Andre Dubus III (House of Sand and Fog) sets the stage for the writers to follow. He tells of stumbling upon a "spiritual bookstore" while vacationing and how he immediately recoiled from the incense, crystals, goddess posters, and bookshelves labeled "Transcendence" and "Healing." On the same street he discovered a bookstore with a cigarette-smoking clerk and familiar genres: fiction, poetry. While one store shouted spiritual slogans and quick fixes, the other invited his soul to travel the gritty mysteries of characters, dialog, landscape, and story. "And it occurred to me that the form of spirituality I trust most comes directly from the sensual mass of life itself." Indeed, the host of heavenly voices in this anthology seems to rise from the complicated "sensual mass" called life. Bestselling author Brett Lott speaks of Oprah selecting Jewel for her book club and how it set in motion a series of humiliating lessons. In "Stillbirth," Leah Konselik Lebec reckons with the death of her 28-week-old son in utero. Some essays rise from a seeker's wonderment, such as Valerie Martin's essay "Being St. Francis." There are the occasional dry spots, but they remind readers that spirituality is not an entertainment industry. Rather, it is a reverent process born out of the willingness to listen and pay close attention. Other contributors include Terry Tempest Williams, Thomas Moore, and Pattiann Rogers. --Gail Hudson


From Publishers Weekly
If, as Zaleski writes in the preface to his latest anthology, the best spiritual writing flourishes in an atmosphere of silence, then the very finest of what was produced in 2000 may still lie in obscurity. Given that, Zaleski once again has skillfully skimmed the cream from the top of last year's published spiritual prose and poetry. In this, his fourth gathering of writers, he has assembled works from the known and the lesser known. Names such as Thomas Moore (Care of the Soul) and George Weigel (Witness to Hope) are among the draws, but the writing itself is the major attraction. It is difficult to page casually through this repository of gems without finding something appealing to read. There is "The Yoga Exercise," a two-stanza verse by Floyd Skloot, whose words are as elegant and lithe as the prayer posture he describes. Likewise, Patricia Hampl's "The Sacrament of Reconciliation" artfully plaits the writer's childhood memories of Catholic confession into her rediscovery of the now-reformed ritual. Also worth noting among the 30 selections is Ben Birnbaum's "How to Pray," a masterful essay on prayer that taps the author's 1950s boyhood recollections, blending them with stories from sources as disparate as the Talmud and a Jewish children's magazine. Although not every faith tradition is represented, Zaleski is generally to be lauded for the diversity of his choices, which this year include works with Christian, Jewish, Native American and Buddhist themes. (Sept.) Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Zaleski, senior editor of Parabola magazine, has once again edited a fine and stimulating collection of the best spiritual writing published in the past year. While this year's anthology does not perhaps have as many superb pieces as in previous years, there are still star entries, like Valerie Martin's essay on Saint Francis or Robert Pinsky's poem "Vessel," and many fascinating pieces reflecting the direction of spiritual thought and writing in America today. Highly recommended. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The Cathechist's Connection
"This book is packed not only with truth but with joy and inspiration from many hearts."


New Orleans Times-Picayune
"The Best Spiritual Writing 1998...is the perfect way to begin or end a day, with its provocative and inspiring poems and essays by many fine writers....This is the first edition of this annual collection, and it's an auspicious beginning....here is a wonderful range of personal quests and answers."


The Dallas Morning News
"Mr. Zaleski, editor of The Best Spiritual Writing 1998,...selected such distinguished writers as Reynolds Price and Madeleine L'Engle as the voices that most poetically address the workings of the soul. Whether writing about prayer, meditation, nature, silence, Dharma or the Mass, these spiritual writers dissect what it means to be religious in postmodern culture."


Patricia Hampl
"Spiritual writing is not about God . . . it is about the human longing for all that God can mean."


Book Description

The Best Spiritual Writing series is the place to find today's most compelling voices in spiritual writing. This series has a remarkable legacy of bringing together the distinguished literary voices of the present, while offering a glimpse into the bestselling spiritual writers of the future. Representing a wide spectrum of religious traditions, these authors speak from the soul about both the profound and the everyday aspects of spirituality in our lives. Philip Zaleski has brought together a collection of wise and lyrical writing about art, intimacy, prayer, love, and faith, including works by such luminaries as:•WENDELL BERRY •BRET LOTT •THOMAS MOORE•GEORGE WEIGEL•TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS•SIMON WINCHESTER

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Best Spiritual Writing series is the place to find today's most compelling voices in spiritual writing. This series has a remarkable legacy of bringing together the distinguished literary voices of the present, while offering a glimpse into the bestselling spiritual writers of the future. Representing a wide spectrum of religious traditions, these authors speak from the soul about both the profound and the everyday aspects of spirituality in our lives. Philip Zaleski has brought together a collection of wise and lyrical writing about art, intimacy, prayer, love, and faith.

FROM THE CRITICS

Napra Review

These 39 essays, stories, and poems, selected from a wide variety of sources, will challenge your spirit, make you reflect, and most of all , inspire you.

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"--while 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 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Zaleski, senior editor of Parabola magazine, has once again edited a fine and stimulating collection of the best spiritual writing published in the past year. While this year's anthology does not perhaps have as many superb pieces as in previous years, there are still star entries, like Valerie Martin's essay on Saint Francis or Robert Pinsky's poem "Vessel," and many fascinating pieces reflecting the direction of spiritual thought and writing in America today. Highly recommended. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Zaleski, who edited Harper San Fran's much ballyhooed first Best Spiritual Writing volume last year, has produced an even better follow-up. From alpha to omega, the pieces in this collection simultaneously satisfy and challenge the reader: No easy-to-swallow New Age pap here. In the first entry, "Zazen," Virginia Hamilton Adair meditates upon the "no one" who "praised [her] appearance" or "remarked that [she] had brought too much" or "noticed" her. In the last entry, "A Fifty-Year Walk," Larry Woiwode proves he has something fresh to say about finding God in the woods. In between, the pages overflow with wonderful writing about matters spiritual. Episcopal priest and renowned preacher Barbara Brown Taylor teaches about Ascension Day, Pico Iyer explores "Why We Travel," Max Apple ruminates on Jewish-American identity, Ron Hansen reflects on stigmata, and Brian Doyle finds meaning in dirt. Zeleski remembers to include some good poetry: Wendell Berry writes about a widower's realization that "To participate in the resurrection, one/first must be dead," Seamus Heaney reflects on Ted Hughes's "Birthday Letters," and Luci Shaw captures the difficulty of prayer in "Some mornings she simply cannot." Perhaps the best essay is Jonathan Rosen's gem "The Talmud and the Internet," originally published in The American Scholar. Rosen, novelist and cultural editor of the Forward, mourns his grandmother's death, searches for a John Donne poem online, and muses about the similarities between the Internet and the Talmud, two places where "everything exists, if only one knows how and where to look." In her Foreword, Kathleen Norris says that good spiritual writing "is hospitable to the reader; itoffers an open door." So many tantalizing invitations are extended in this book that you may find your social calendar full all year.