June 3, 2005
Taming a Liger: Spiritual Lessons from Napoleon Dynamite
Wow. Spiritual lessons mined from the indie flick Napoleon Dynamite. The very thought of reading Napoleon-inspired prose makes me laugh.
Get a load of this bit of marketing copy:
Kick off your moon boots, grab a quesa-dilluh, and discover a God who truly can make your wildest dreams come true. Sweet!
Taming a Liger: Unexpected Spiritual Lessons from Napoleon Dynamite by Jeff Dunn and Adam Palmer should be available now.
Update: Read our interview with Taming the Liger author Adam Palmer.
Posted by kevin at 4:26 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 27, 2005
Bono Talks
Bono, the one-named lead singer for the world's biggest rock band—U2—has finally written his memoir. Well, not really. He just talked. A lot. And had some poor sap take notes.
Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas is exactly that, Bono and Assayas, his longtime friend, chatting. For 323 pages. Rock stars—is there anything they can't do?
And if you're a U2 fan or a Bono freak, that's good news. Everybody else might want to hold out for a real autobiography, one with a narrative (read my review). But don't hold your breath.
If you are a Bono fan, there's plenty of wise pontificating...
Posted by kevin at 3:51 PM | TrackBack
May 19, 2005
The Gospel According to Star Wars: Part II
The Star Wars mania, prompted by today's release of Revenge of the Sith, continues in the world of books. Christianity Today is featuring a four-part series on the spirituality of Star Wars, excerpted from the book Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies by Roy M. Anker. The essay focuses on the original series and goes into considerable detail.
In other Christianity in Star Wars news, Stan Guthrie offers an interview with Dick Staub about his latest book, Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters.
Posted by kevin at 12:20 PM | TrackBack
May 7, 2005
The Pope Books Are Coming
The first new biography of the late Pope John Paul II came out this week, and it's just an example of the publishing industry rushing to keep up with the 24-hour news cycle. Just like newspapers prepare obituaries ahead of time, book publishers are having to prepare autobiographies in expectation of the sudden interest in a famous personality when they die.
"It's fine that books appear instantly," says Roger Tagholm, deputy editor of trade paper Publishing News. "There will always be those who say that it's ambulance chasing but there's an immediate interest in whoever's just died - quickly producing a book services that interest."
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May 2, 2005
The Gospel According to Star Wars
With Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith opening May 19 the book world is going Star Wars crazy as well. And this time it's religious. Newsweek points to two religious-themed Star Wars book in their article, "What Would Jar Jar Do?" (gotta love that title).
The first, The Dharma of Star Wars by Matthew Bortolin, explores the Buddhist thought that permeates ideas like the force. The second, commentator Dick Staub's Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters (what's up with that title?), which compares Luke Skywalker's Jedi path to a young Christian's journey of discipleship. "I think there's a much more interesting conversation about spirituality happening in pop culture than there is in the typical church," says Staub. I actually have a copy of Staub's lamely titled book on my desk, though it's buried in a stack of other need to reads.
Newsweek neglected Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine (part of the pop culture and philosophy series). It's more philosophy than religion, but hey, it's all deep stuff.
Posted by kevin at 8:50 PM | TrackBack