Philip Zaleski is the author of The Recollected Heart, Gifts of the Spirit, and The Benedictines of Petersham, and co-author, with Carol Zaleski, of The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings - J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams; Prayer: A History; and The Book of Heaven: An Anthology of Writings from Ancient to Modern Times. He is also the editor of the Best Spiritual Writing and Best American Spiritual Writing series. He lives with his family in Western Massachusetts.
Excerpts from The Fellowship: http://chronicle.com/article/Oxfords-Influential-Inklings/229967?cid=megamenu and http://us.macmillan.com/excerpt?isbn=9780374154097
A few snippets from reviews:
THE FELLOWSHIP
A gutsy, glorious adoration of the English fantasy and faerie traditions, which celebrates what sometimes seems like a fantastical time when religion didn't destroy art but created it. (Joshua Cohen, Harper's Magazine)
The husband-and-wife team of Philip and Carol Zaleski bring to bear both extensive scholarship and a neatly interwoven narrative; this is a story about storytellers, and it shows . . . (Genevieve Valentine, The New York Times Book Review)
A fascinating overview of this 'intellectual orchestra' . . . a captivating story of young writers finding their literary footing while trying to rectify competing desires for happiness, love, fame, and faith. (Ethan Gilsdorf, The Boston Globe)
THE BOOK OF HEAVEN
"Everything Philip and Carol Zaleski touch turns to gold. Scholarly, witty and wise, they know the field well and have keen eyes for what's interesting." -- Annie Dillard
"The Zaleskis are cheerfully learned. Distinctly pro-heaven themselves, they wish everybody else were . . ." -- Frank Kermode, "Heaven, They're in Heaven," The New York Times Book Review
PRAYER: A HISTORY
"A lovely, interesting new book . . . Philip and Carol Zaleski explore this most personal of religious practices in an ecumenical spirit." -- Jon Meacham, The New York Times Book Review
"Thought-provoking and soul-uplifting . . . There's an engaging ease to the Zaleskis' prose, and humor pops through regularly." -- Los Angeles Times
"This is the most stunning book on prayer that I have ever read. It will become the benchmark for every other work on the subject, present or future." -- Phyllis Tickle
THE RECOLLECTED HEART
"a valuable addition to the growing body of contemporary popular appreciations of St. Benedict's rule and - more generally - to the literature of spirituality and the conversation within which it is nurtured." -- Steve Schroeder, Booklist
GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT
"Greet a friend, climb a hill, slice a radish . . . Gifts of the Spirit would have us understand that there are no ordinary acts: only windows onto grace, light, and glory that we haven't had the sense to open. A wise and lovely sourcebook." -- Carol Lee Flinders
THE BEST SPIRITUAL WRITING FOR 2013
"Zaleski's compilation of spiritual writings restores 'best' to its rightful exceptional place. . . . It is a curious literary party at first glance, but the diverse forms, voices, topics, gradually coalesce into something bigger and more elegant, something spiritual and extraordinary." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Zaleski has repeated his annual miracle, uniting another year's worth of various and thought-provoking pieces. Essential for individuals who have read earlier volumes, and an excellent place to start for those who have not." -- Library Journal, starred review
"[A] luminous collection." -- Chicago Tribune
"Like a very fine friend returned from a year's voyaging, laden with delights and treasures to share, Philip Zaleski brings us, here again, another trove of well-wrought, luminous, soul-bracing gifts." -- Thomas Lynch
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