![]() ![]() At last, in Religion for Atheists, Alain de Botton has fashioned a far more interesting and truly helpful alternative. ![]() Blending deep respect with total impiety, de Botton (a non-believer himself) proposes that we look to religion for insights into how to, among other concerns, build a sense of community, make our relationships last, overcome feelings of envy and inadequacy, inspire travel and reconnect with the natural world.įor too long non-believers have faced a stark choice between either swallowing some peculiar doctrines or doing away with a range of consoling and beautiful rituals and ideas. He begins by claiming that religion was not handed down from on high. Religious belief may be nonsense, but it’s useful nonsense. Religion for Atheists suggests that rather than mocking religion, agnostics and atheists should instead steal from it-because the world’s religions are packed with good ideas on how we might live and arrange our societies. Alain de Botton’s book, Religion for Atheists: A Non-believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion argues that religion is untrue, yet useful. What if religions are neither all true nor all nonsense? The long-running and often boring debate between fundamentalist believers and non-believers is finally moved forward by Alain de Botton’s inspiring new book, which boldly argues that the supernatural claims of religion are entirely false-but that it still has some very important things to teach the secular world. ALAIN DE BOTTON: Im genuinely an Atheist, and are not questing for God or a replacement or a spirit or anything like that, but I think the secular world has not worked out all the answers - and particularly when it comes to organising the inner life. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Tiffany can’t avoid being funny-it’s just who she is, whether she’s plotting shocking, jaw-dropping revenge on an ex-boyfriend or learning how to handle her newfound fame despite still having a broke person’s mind-set. None of that worked (and she’s still single), but it allowed Tiffany to imagine a place for herself where she could do something she loved for a living: comedy. Or at least she could make enough money-as the paid school mascot and in-demand Bar Mitzvah hype woman-to get her hair and nails done, so then she might get a boyfriend. ![]() If she could do that, then her classmates would let her copy their homework, the other foster kids she lived with wouldn’t beat her up, and she might even get a boyfriend. Growing up in one of the poorest neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles, Tiffany learned to survive by making people laugh. “An inspiring story that manages to be painful, honest, shocking, bawdy and hilarious.” -The New York Times Book Reviewįrom stand-up comedian, actress, and breakout star of Girls Trip, Tiffany Haddish, comes The Last Black Unicorn, a sidesplitting, hysterical, edgy, and unflinching collection of ( extremely) personal essays, as fearless as the author herself. ![]() ![]() This Venus induces a strange kind of laziness-lifetime opportunities are missed, because you overslept, because you didn’t feel like going, because you were late, because you were neglectful. ![]() They have beautiful bodies, but they destroy them through neglect, poison themselves with harmful substances, and ignore doctors and dentists. Such People are bright and intelligent, but don’t apply themselves to their studies, and use their intelligence to play card games or patience instead. In this case we’re dealing with a Person whom fortune has gifted generously, but who has entirely failed to use their potential. The result of this situation is that I have, as I see it, Lazy Venus syndrome. What’s more, Pluto is in a negative aspect to Venus, and in my case Pluto rules the Ascendant. “My Venus is damaged, or in exile, that’s what you say of a Planet that can’t be found in the sign where it should be. ![]() ![]() ![]() He has no family and he’s a touch older and more mature than a lot of the college seniors. While it does offer plenty of heat and erotic moments, for a shorter novel, it also offered a reasonable amount of character development and plot.īen is twenty-three and has struggled to put himself through school. With a title like Seducing the Professor, you might have a certain impression going in of what this book may be about. Ben still needs to graduate, but his new mission is to seduce the professor. Stressed out to the max, Ben accompanies his roommate to a party where his eyes land on one Professor Coyle, his Professor Coyle, who is completely unbridled and hot. There seems to be one problem though with a grade in his in literature class that could mean the difference between Ben graduating or not.īen confronts his professor, Peter Coyle, and while he finds the man good looking, it’s of no concern as the man isn’t seeing reason or helping him out one bit. He put himself through school and a full-time job cannot come soon enough. ![]() Ben is a senior in college and graduation is finally three weeks away. ![]() ![]() ![]() In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how nature became aware of itself - a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared. ![]() ![]() What if intelligent life on Earth evolved not once, but twice? The octopus is the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The recurrent themes in her fiction are the “ties between people and geographical locations, the importance of community among all living beings, the complexities of individual and cultural identity, and the exigencies of marginalization, dispossession, and cultural survival.” Her fiction, moreover, is ripe with “amily and motherhood, storytelling, healing, environmental issues, and historical consciousness” which connects her work thematically to the expanding web of contemporary Native American Thus, Erdrich usually appends a family tree to her novels to refresh the memory of the reader. Out of sequence or, although readers might have read her earlier works, they scarcely remember who is who in later novels. The readers are bewildered, especially when they pick up her novels ![]() Owing to the interconnection between most of Louise Erdrich’s novels, ![]() ![]() ![]() My book allows you to glimpse history through a female lens. There are so many stories that haven’t been told. I think this is a moment in which a lot of people are asking what role women played in our past. Here, Targoff answers questions about the book, her work, and Colonna: Ramie Targoff’s fine book will surely make that happen.” The New Yorker called Targoff’s book a “richly realized biography.” A reviewer in the New York Times wrote, “Vittoria Colonna has always deserved to be better known. Melted all other knots in tying this one. ![]() Love consumed the passion where once he lit it, So that it keeps alive the immortal wound, Since one fire inflames it, one knot binds it tight.Ī single pungent arrow afflicts my breast That my heart disdains all lesser chains. So rich a bond ties me to that fine yoke, That even once spent it continues to burn. The following is a sample of her writing, a poem titled “Di così nobil fiamma Amor mi cinse” (which Targoff translated): Targoff's Renaissance Woman: The Life of Vittoria Colonna (Macmillan, 2018), Venell-Brandeis explains, "chronicles Colonna’s development as a writer, her grief over the death of her husband, and her friendship with Michelangelo, with whom she carried on a long and moving correspondence." From there: ![]() According to Venell-Brandeis, she was the first woman to publish a book of poems in Italy. Tessa Venell-Brandeis introduces Ramie Targoff's new book about the 16th-century poet Vittoria Colonna at Futurity. ![]() ![]() It is remarkable how Colleen McCullough manages to weave together so many stories and themes throughout The Thorn Birds.The literary techniques employed in The Thorn Birds allow the reader to experience the full spectrum of human emotions.The characters in The Thorn Birds are incredibly complex and the story paints a vivid picture of the struggles they face.The Thorn Birds is a captivating read that builds tension and emotion with each page. ![]() Ultimately, the novel paints a vivid portrait of what it means to be human in all its complexity and fragility. Other themes in The Thorn Birds include loyalty, commitment, identity, guilt, self-discovery, loss and grief. ![]() Throughout the novel, characters struggle with the conflict between their duties to their families and their duties to their faith. Another key theme is faith specifically, the power of faith to both bind people together and tear them apart. Throughout the story, Meggie must grapple with the impossible choice between her love for her family and her unrequited love for Father Ralph. The central theme of The Thorn Birds is love in its many forms: romantic love, familial love, spiritual love, and passionate love. The novel follows the lives of three generations of the Cleary family, interwoven with Meggie’s passionate and forbidden love for a Catholic priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart. ![]() It tells the story of Meggie Cleary and her family who live in rural Australia. The Thorn Birds is a sweeping, epic novel by Colleen McCullough. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() When their deal is sealed, the spouses are blithely looking forward to another three decades together.īy turns hilarious and touching, playful and grave, Should We Stay or Should We Go portrays twelve parallel universes, each exploring a possible future for Kay and Cyril. To spare themselves and their loved ones such a humiliating and protracted decline, they should agree to commit suicide together once they’ve both turned eighty. Determined to die with dignity, Cyril makes a modest proposal. Although healthy and vital in their early fifties, the couple fears what may lie ahead. ![]() Surely one’s own father passing should never come as such a relief.īoth medical professionals, Kay and her husband Cyril have seen too many elderly patients in similar states of decay. Over ten years, Alzheimer’s had steadily eroded this erudite man into a paranoid lunatic. When her father dies, Kay Wilkinson can’t cry. ![]() ![]() ![]() In an interview with The Horn Book, Hutchinson explained why he chooses this genre, saying it "gives the space to explore human emotions in a richer way than could do in straightforward contemporary fiction" because the genre "is frequently about looking toward the future, and though the future often seems bleak. ![]() Most of Hutchinson's novels include elements of speculative fiction. Hutchinson presently lives in Seattle, Washington. Hutchinson graduated from Jupiter High School, then studied medieval and renaissance literature at Florida Atlantic University, though he dropped out to work in information technology. In his memoir, Brave Face, Hutchinson explains that, throughout his adolescence, "he struggled to understand his sexuality, his depression, and the suicide attempt that led to a search for self-acceptance." He has ADHD and now identifies as queer. ![]() He has three brothers and one half-sister. Hutchinson was born May 1, 1978, in West Palm Beach, Florida, and grew up in Jupiter, Florida. His novels often "combine speculative elements with LGBT characters and themes." Personal life Shaun David Hutchinson (born May 1, 1978) is an American author of young adult texts. ![]() |