Spinning straw into gold

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Irving Singer

Philosophical thinking has traditionally decreed that the human condition is split into two realms of being: nature and spirit - the one physical and psychological; the other an inherently transcendent dimension that exceeds the natural. Irving Singer finds this distinction unacceptable. Preceded by The Creation of Value and The Pursuit of Love, this final book in Singer's Meaning in Life trilogy argues that separating nature and the life of spirit not only precludes an understanding of how consciousness, awareness of value, and the pursuit of ideal possibilities originate in nature but also masks the discovery of how experience can be both meaningful and a source of happiness. Studying the interaction between nature and spirit, Singer examines the ways in which we may resolve our sense of being divided and thereby overcome the suffering in life. He speculates about concepts of happiness, play, acceptance of mere existence, and the need to live in unity with nature.

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Catherine Lim

The author portrays herself as dead and lying in her coffin. During the three days before the final consignment to dust and oblivion, as friends, relatives, ex-colleagues, fans, lovers and total strangers come to pay their respects, she indulges, for the last time, her love of story-telling. Around each visitor she weaves a dazzling tale with her usual exuberant wit, comic brio and warm empathy. But the tales are more than just that. They are the triggering points for what is the central concern of this book - the exploration of those achingly urgent human questions that everyone asks at some time or other in his or her life: Who are we? Where did we come from? What is the purpose of life? What happens after death? Why are we here at all? What is our conception of god in an age of undisputed scientific power? How should we view good and evil, pain and suffering? Is there such a thing as Ultimate Truth? What does it mean to be human?

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Kwame Anthony Appiah

A moral manifesto that forces us to reconsider a world divided between the West and the Rest, Us and Them. We have grown accustomed in this anxious, post-9/11 era to constructing a world fissured by warring creeds and cultures. Much of humanity now seems separated by chasms of incomprehension. Kwame Anthony Appiah's landmark new work challenges the separatist doctrines espoused in books such as Samuel P. Huntington's "The Clash of Civilizations," Reviving the ancient philosophy of "Cosmopolitanism," a school of thought that dates to the Cynics of the fourth century bce, Appiah traces its influence on the ethical legacies of the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, Kant's dream of a "league of nations," and the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In doing so, Appiah shows how Western intellectuals and leaders, on both the left and the right, have wildly exaggerated the power of difference--and neglected the power of one. One world. One species. Challenging years of received wisdom, "Cosmopolitanism" is a resounding work of philosophy and global culture. About the series: Issues of Our Time: "Aware of the competition for the attention of readers, W. W. Norton & Company and I have created the "Issues of Our Time" as a lucid series of highly readable books through which some of today's most thoughtful intellectuals seek to challenge the general reader to reexamine received truths and grapple with powerful trends that are shaping the world in which we live. The series launches with Anthony Appiah, Alan Dershowitz, and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen as the first of an illustrious group who will tackle some of the most plangent and central issues defining our society today throughbooks that deal with such issues as sexual and racial identities, the economics of the developing world, and the concept of citizenship in a truly globalized twenty-first-century world culture. Above all else, these books are designed to be read and enjoyed."--Henry Louis Gates Jr., W. E. B. DuBois Professor of the Humanities, Harvard University

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Melody Carlson

Grace Trey is an eighteen-year-old singer as passionate about her Christian faith as she is her phenomenal music talent. Both traits come from her father, one-hit wonder Jonny Trey, who found a new life in Jesus after losing his chart success. When she encounters her own music break of a lifetime, the sudden dive into the "real world" puts her deeper beliefs to the test.