A modern-day Confessions of Saint Augustine, The Seven StoreyMountain is one of the most influential religious works of thetwentieth century. This edition contains an introduction byMerton's editor, Robert Giroux, and a note to the reader bybiographer William H. Shannon. It tells of the growing restlessnessof a brilliant and passionate young man whose search for peace andfaith leads him, at the age of twenty-six, to take vows in one ofthe most demanding Catholic orders--the Trappist monks. At theAbbey of Gethsemani, "the four walls of my new freedom," ThomasMerton struggles to withdraw from the world, but only after he hasfully immersed himself in it. The Seven Storey Mountain has been afavorite of readers ranging from Graham Greene to Claire BoothLuce, Eldridge Cleaver, and Frank McCourt. And, in the half-centurysince its original publication, this timeless spiritual tome hasbeen published in over twenty languages and has touched millions oflives.
In a mixture of travel, adventure, and scholarship, historianTudor Parfitt sets out in search of answers to a fascinatingethnological puzzle: is the Lemba tribe of Southern Africa reallyone of the lost tribes of Israel, descended from King Solomon andthe Queen of Sheba? Beginning in the Lemba villages in South Africa, where hewitnesses customs such as food taboos and circumcision rites thatseem part of Jewish tradition, Parfitt retraces the supposed pathof the Lembas' through Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Tanzania, taking insights like Zanzibar and the remains of the stone city GreatZimbabwe. The story of his eccentric travels, a blend of theancient allure of King Solomon's mines and Prester John withcontemporary Africa in all its beauty and brutality, makes for anirresistible glimpse at a various and rapidly changingcontinent. And in a new epilogue, Parfitt discusses recent DNA evidencethat, amazingly, lends credence to the Lemba's tribal myth.
David Mamet's interest in anti-Semitism is not limited to themodern face of an ancient hatred but encompasses as well the waysin which many Jews have internalized that hatred. Using themetaphor of the Wicked Son at the Passover seder (the child whoasks, "What does this story mean to you?") Mamet confronts what hesees as an insidious predilection among some Jews to excludethemselves from the equation and to seek truth and meaninganywhere--in other religions, political movements, mindlessentertainment--but in Judaism itself. He also explores the ways inwhich the Jewish tradition has long been and still remains theWicked Son in the eyes of the world. Written with the searinghonesty and verbal brilliance that is the hallmark of Mamet's work,The Wicked Son is a powerfully thought-provoking look at one of themost destructive and tenacious forces in contemporary life.
Presenting sexual profiles on each of the twelve sun signs, aguide details specific dos and don'ts that enable readers topredict which behaviors best enable them to captivate the person oftheir choice.
A history so funny, so true, so scary, it's bound to becalled a conspiracy. "Meticulous in its research, forensic in itsreasoning, robust in its argument, and often hilarious in itsdebunking, Voodoo Histories is a highly entertaining rumblewith the century's major conspiracy theorists and their theories"(John Lahr). From Pearl Harbor to 9/11 to the assassination of JFKto the Birthers, Aaronvitch probes and explores the majorconspiracy theories (and theorists) of our time. In doing so, heexamines why people believe these conspiracies and makes anargument for a true skepticism.
