A Brief Review of
Catherine De Hueck Doherty: Essential Writings.
Modern Spiritual Masters Series.
Paperback, Orbis Books, 2009.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]

Reviewed by Chris Smith.

Prior to receiving a copy of the new book Catherine De Hueck Doherty: Essential Writings (Orbis 2009), my only encounter with the late Ms. Doherty was through her classic work Poustinia, which appropriates the Eastern Christian practice of poustinia (Russian: “desert”) for readers in the West.  One of the newest volumes in Orbis’ “Modern Spiritual Masters” series, this anthology of Doherty’s writings is a fabulous introduction to her life and work.  The book opens with a lengthy introduction by editor David Meconi,  S.J., which follows the complex story of Doherty’s life from her upbringing in an aristocratic Russian family, to her narrow escape from Russia during the Bolshevik revolution to her eventual settling and ministry in the United States and Canada.  Although never formally trained in theology, Doherty was one of the twentieth century’s most prominent thinkers in the area of Christian spirituality.  Having been raised by Russian Orthodox parents, but with a Roman Catholic grandfather, Doherty would herself ultimately settle within Roman Catholicism.  This rich heritage offered Doherty a unique opportunity to speak in broad terms about Christian faith and experience.  The categories into which the selections from her writings have been presented in this volume shed some light on the key themes of her work: “The Divine Presence,” “The Mystical Body,” “Christian Prayer,” “Christian Action” and “The Human Condition.”  Although Doherty’s most poignant writings could be described as mystical – probing our relationship with God and with one another – her life was clearly not one of isolation, but rather engagement – particularly in caring for the poor, a virtue that was nurtured in her by her parents from her earliest years.  The most striking section of the book for me were her writings on the human condition, which reflect the familial and cultural struggles that she faced throughout her life and yet demonstrate an unwavering faith in the sovereignty of God in the midst of these trials.  I highly recommend this book as a fine introduction to one of the most significant Christian women of the twentieth century, a visionary whose message is of great value even to us, as followers of Christ in the twenty-first century.

Folk musician and storyteller David Holt plays the banjo and shares photographs and old wisdom from the Appalachian Mountains. He also demonstrates some unusual instruments like the mouth bow — and a surprising electric drum kit he calls “thunderwear.”

A followup on our list of ideas for celebrating Interdependence Day on July 4:

Shane Claiborne wrote an introduction to our list, which was published last week on the blog for Sojourners magazine:

 http://blog.sojo.net/2009/06/23/40-ways-to-celebrate-interdependence-day-on-july-4/

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgove wrote another intro for our list, which was published on the blog of Tikkun magazine:

http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2009/06/25/interdependence-day/

Check it out…

What are you doing to celebrate our interdependence?

A Brief Review of
Between Wyomings: My God and an iPod on the Open Road.
By Ken Mansfield.
Paperback: Thomas Nelson, 2009.
Buy now: [ CBD ]

Reviewed by Chris Smith.

Ken Mansfield’s new book Between Wyomings: My God and an iPod on the Open Road, is a memoir tracing the winding journey of his star-studded life in the music business.  To emphasize this theme of journey – or perhaps more specifically as road-trip – the book’s table of contents is even presented in the form of a map!   Between Wyomings is a string of vignettes from Mansfield’s life that have been creatively arranged along the path of an imagined road trip.  We encounter many of Mansfield’s famous collaborators along the way: The Beatles, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, etc.

Unlike the great American road stories (think Kerouac’s On the Road or Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley) in whose footsteps Mansfield’s memoir would seem to follow, there is little probing here of the depths of human experience.  Instead, Mansfield’s journey is powered by an overwhelming sense of sentimentality.  Without any significant reflection on their meaning, Mansfield relies throughout on the stereotypically American icons of the road-trip and the American West.  Mansfield’s faith, it seems, is of the sentimentally-driven American evangelical variety.  Mansfield’s life undoubtedly was filled with colorful characters, and he almost certainly has some intriguing stories to tell, one simply wishes that his narration of his life of engagement with American pop culture would have benefited from reflection more deeply rooted in the Christian tradition and at least a modicum of critical engagement that is not afraid to question (a la David Dark) both Christian faith and American culture.

“Love the Immigrants”

A Review of
Welcoming the Stranger:
Justice, Compassion and Truth
In the Immigration Debate.
by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Hwang.

 Reviewed by Debra Dean Murphy,
(Author of Teaching That Transforms).

Welcoming the Stranger:
Justice, Compassion and Truth
In the Immigration Debate.
Matthew Soerens and Jenny Hwang.
Paperback: IVP Books, 2009.
Buy now:   [ CBD ]

What a difference a recession makes.

A year before the election of Barack Obama, conventional wisdom held that U.S. immigration policy would be the wedge issue of the 2008 presidential campaign. Congress had helped set the stage for a political showdown by failing to pass the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act in the spring of 2007. In a primary debate that fall, Hillary Clinton stumbled over a question about driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, leading many to predict an early end to her presidential aspirations.

But by the time candidates Obama and McCain met for three debates just weeks before Election Day, it was clear that immigration reform was not a pressing issue for either campaign. And if the candidates weren’t talking much about immigration, neither was the electorate. A tanking economy and a looming recession were jangling nerves all across America, creating a whole new set of worries and anxieties. Now nearly six months into the Obama administration, the economic recession continues to preoccupy the President, the news media, and most Americans.

In their new book, Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate, Matthew Soerens and Jenny Hwang draw our attention, thankfully, back to the urgent questions surrounding U.S. immigration policy. With compelling personal stories, up-to-the-minute statistics, and an impressive command of the history of immigration patterns, practices, and policies, Soerens and Hwang remind us that there is no neat and tidy separation between immigration and the economy—whether the latter is floundering or flourishing.

(more…)

“Local Communities
Bound Together By Food”

A Review of
Food of a Younger Land.
by Mark Kurlansky.

 Reviewed by Brent Aldrich.

Food of a Younger Land:
A portrait of American food – before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food, when the nation’s food was seasonal, regional, and traditional – from the lost WPA files
by Mark Kurlansky.
Hardcover: Riverhead Books, 2009.
Buy now:  [ Amazon ]

Much of what I’ve read in the last year about the history in this country of food and eating, particularly in the likes of Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food or Paul Robert’s The End of Food, traces the rise of the hegemonic, centralized industrial food production that we find ourselves in today. Less seems to have appeared that is as comprehensive in regards to the eating practices abandoned for this new model, which is exactly where Mark Kurlansky’s new book The Food of a Younger Land picks up. To reproduce the lengthy subtitle is descriptive of the book: A portrait of American food – before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food, when the nation’s food was seasonal, regional, and traditional – from the lost WPA files.

    The impetus for Food of a Younger Land is the author’s discovery of an archive of unpublished files from the Federal Writer’s Project toward a project around 1940 called America Eats, designed to collect regional essays into a book on “American cookery and the part it has played in the national life, as exemplified in the group meals that preserve not only traditional dishes but also traditional attitudes and customs. Emphasis should be divided between food and people” (14-15). The WPA dissolved before the all of the pieces were collected, edited, and published and so what remains in the archives are individual writers and many essays, poems, recipes, and mythologies about food at the time of the writing, and dating back before the turn of the 20th century, or at times to pre-colonial America. Divided into regional categories, America Eats and Food of a Younger Land groups America into the Northeast, South, Middle West, Far West, and Southwest, and each region takes on very different practices and menus, indicative of a food economy defined first by geography and tradition.

     (more…)

A Brief Review of The Vegan Cook’s Bible
by Pat Crocker.
Paperback: Robert Rose: 2009.
Buy now: [ Amazon ]

Reviewed by Chris Smith.

More than just a cookbook, The Vegan Cook’s Bible is an excellent resource for the vegan kitchen (no meats, dairy products, eggs, or other animal products), or indeed for anyone who wants creative ideas for reducing the amount of meat and other animal products in their diet.  The first part of the book is a system-by-system overview of the human body that highlights what these systems need, and how these needs can be met within a vegan diet.  The book’s second part is a excellent guidebook to some of the basic ingredients of vegan cuisine — fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, herbs, etc — and how they can be prepared and used creatively within the vegan diet.  As one who prefers to be improvisational in the kitchen, this was the best part of the book and it set my mind spinning with all kinds of ideas of how ingredients could be used in a multitude of new and creative ways!   The remainder of the book, approximately half the text, is a more traditional cookbook.  The first section of recipes features “Basics,” sauces, dairy substitutes, seasonings, etc., which again lends itself very well to creative or improvisational cooking.  This latter half of the book, has some fabulous full-page color pictures of some dishes, which leaves one longing to sink his/her teeth into them!  Many of the recipes are accompanied by tips and variations which  spur creativity.  There are all kinds of scrumptious recipes for main dishes (see the recipe for Black Bean and Four Pepper Stew, below), appetizers and even desserts! (more…)

1. While you wait for the Intrvw w/ @ScotMcKnight Our revws of his 2 most recent bks BLUE PARAKEET http://tr.im/o1er /FASTING http://tr.im/o1fa12:00 PM Jun 10th from web
2. Welcome to the Englewood Review twinterview with Scot McKnight ( @ScotMcKnight ), professor, blogger, and author of many books…12:00 PM Jun 10th from web
3. We are talking today with Scot about his newest book FASTING ( @ThomasNelson 2009 ) Welcome Scot!12:01 PM Jun 10th from web
4. @scotmcknight I know from experience that fasting is difficult for most people. So, why should we even pick up your book?12:01 PM Jun 10th from web
5. @ERBks I’m hoping this book will shed some light on the abuses of fasting and the misunderstandings that have slipped in.12:03 PM Jun 10th from web in reply to ERBks
6. Fasting, I believe, is natural and inevitable. When it becomes a chore or difficult something’s gone wrong.12:04 PM Jun 10th from web    (more…)

In our continuing effort to fund the publication and free distribution of The Englewood Review, we are going to be collaborating more intentionally with Christian Book Distributors.  Primarily, we will be offering you the opportunity to buy bargain books from CBD that we think of are interest.  Buying books this way is a win / win / win proposition.  You get great books for a great price,  CBD gets the sale and we get an excellent referral fee from CBD.  These books make great gifts!

This week’s bargain books (Click to learn more/purchase):

The Tuft of Flowers
Robert Frost

I WENT to turn the grass once after one
Who mowed it in the dew before the sun.
The dew was gone that made his blade so keen
Before I came to view the leveled scene.
I looked for him behind an isle of trees;
I listened for his whetstone on the breeze.
But he had gone his way, the grass all mown,
And I must be, as he had been,–alone,
‘As all must be,’ I said within my heart,
‘Whether they work together or apart.’
But as I said it, swift there passed me by
On noiseless wing a ‘wildered butterfly,
Seeking with memories grown dim o’er night
Some resting flower of yesterday’s delight.
And once I marked his flight go round and round,
As where some flower lay withering on the ground.
And then he flew as far as eye could see,
And then on tremulous wing came back to me.
I thought of questions that have no reply,
And would have turned to toss the grass to dry;
But he turned first, and led my eye to look
At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook,
A leaping tongue of bloom the scythe had spared
Beside a reedy brook the scythe had bared.
I left my place to know them by their name,
Finding them butterfly weed when I came.
The mower in the dew had loved them thus,
By leaving them to flourish, not for us,
Nor yet to draw one thought of ours to him.
But from sheer morning gladness at the brim.
The butterfly and I had lit upon,
Nevertheless, a message from the dawn,
That made me hear the wakening birds around,
And hear his long scythe whispering to the ground,
And feel a spirit kindred to my own;
So that henceforth I worked no more alone;
But glad with him, I worked as with his aid,
And weary, sought at noon with him the shade;
And dreaming, as it were, held brotherly speech
With one whose thought I had not hoped to reach.
‘Men work together,’ I told him from the heart,
‘Whether they work together or apart.’