Poetry and humanism

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Stephen Kendrick

If God is the greatest mystery of them all, then why not, in pursuit of God, consult the greatest detective of them all? In this imaginative and surprisingly profound book, Stephen Kendrick reveals Sherlock Holmes as spiritual guide. Drawing on the teachings of Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism--as well as a host of thinkers as varied as Albert Einstein, Gandhi, and Vincent van Gogh--Kendrick explores the stories of Sherlock Holmes and finds remarkably prescient religious insights. He shows us the link between careful observation of clues and the Buddhist concept of "Bare Attention." He illuminates the parallel between the great sleuth's pursuit of justice and God's actions on the scene of the first murder, when Cain slew Abel. And in the detective's open, engaged mind, Kendrick finds a model for uniting the principles of science with a sincere spiritual quest. The result is a book of inspiration for the modern, skeptical searcher--and an entertaining work that sheds new light on the methods of the world's greatest detective.

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John Beversluis

"C. S. Lewis wrote that belief in Christianity was the only viable option if one thought honestly and rationally, and famously challenged nonbelievers by writing. "I am not asking anyone to accept Christianity if his best reasoning tells him the weight of the evidence is against it." Philosopher John Beversluis accepts Lewis's challenge in his new edition of C. S. Lewis and the Search for Rational Religion, subjecting each of Lewis's arguments for Christianity to the rigors of logical argument and finding them wanting. Beversluis also investigates C. S. Lewis's crisis of faith and asks whether Lewis lost his faith after the tragic death of his wife. Finally, he argues that Lewis's popularity is largely the result of his effective rhetorical style rather than the validity of his logical arguments."--book jacket.

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Sanjay K. Gautam

The 'Kamasutra' is best known in the West for its scandalous celebration of unbridled sensuality. Yet, there is much, much more to it; embedded in the text is a vision of the city founded on art and aesthetic pleasure. Sanjay K. Gautam lays out the nature and origin of this iconic Indian text and engages in a serious reading of its relationship with Foucault. Gautam shows how closely intertwined the history of erotics in Indian culture is with the history of theater-aesthetics grounded in the discourse of love, and Foucault provides the framework for opening up an intellectual horizon of Indian thought.

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Shelly Brivic

"In this provocative study, Shelly Brivic presents the history of the twentieth-century American novel as a continuous narrative dialogue between white and black voices. Exploring four of the most renowned and challenging works written between 1930 and 1990 - William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!, Richard Wrights Native Son, Thomas Pynchon's V., and Toni Morrison's Beloved - Brivic traces how these works progress through the interaction of white and black perspectives toward confronting the calamity of slavery and its reverberating aftermath and continuing legacy."--BOOK JACKET.