Author:Friedrich Nietzsche,R. Kevin Hill,Michael A. Scarpitti
'We have left dry land and put out to sea! We have burned the bridge behind us - what is more, we have burned the land behind us!'
Nietzsche's devastating demolition of religion would have seismic consequences for future generations. With God dead, he envisages a brilliant future for humanity: one in which individuals would at last be responsible for their destinies.
One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.
truly remarkable... Searingly honest… This book carries its readers to a place where inhibitions and fears about loss and death give way to something more hopefully and, in their own way, real
—— Peter Stanford , Daily TelegraphMoving, challenging and hauntingly beautiful... This exquisite book chronicles the quest to process a grief that can never end. This is one I shall return to again and again
—— Bel Mooney , Daily MailThis is a beautiful book, a remarkable, cadenced recollection of how grief lives in the body. It is poetry as a kind of dance. You have to read it
—— Edmund de WaalEverything in Sleeping Letters tastes and smells of the authentic life. It’s a living example of what both religion and – especially in Jung’s wise hands – psychology are supposed to do and be. This tiny book is an enormous lesson in finding the sacred through our suffering, in always trusting the impossible, in remembering how to write and read while asleep
A remarkable book by a remarkable writer… the author’s mission is urgent in the light of the uses to which the world’s scriptures are sometimes put
—— Rev Dr Neil Richardson , Methodist RecorderThe Lost Art of Scripture… exhibits [Armstrong’s] well-known and admired characteristics as a writer: an ability to be both authoritative on all the major faiths…a reasoned insistence that religion today is misunderstood, as much by the religious as by their critics; and a passionate appeal to our fractious and fractured world to embrace religion’s core message…compassion and respect for others
—— Peter Stanford , Sunday TimesMagisterial ... a dazzling accomplishment, a reflection of an encyclopaedic knowledge of comparative religion and of a wisdom about spirituality in the human species
—— New York Times Book ReviewExhilarating, challenging and curiously comforting… [The Lost Art of Scripture has] been written not only with intellectual rigour and an accessible turn of phrase, but also with love
—— Lucy Winkett , ProspectOne of our best living writers on religion
—— Financial TimesKaren Armstrong is a genius
—— A.N. WilsonKaren Armstrong is one of the handful of wise and supremely intelligent commentators on religion
—— Alain De BottonA fascinating excursion into neo-Gnosticism… Armstrong…has clearly done an enormous amount of reading and research to handle so skilfully the mass of material she surveys
—— Jack Carrigan , Catholic Herald[Armstrong] weaves…[a] truly vast history into a coherent and fascinating narrative… an interesting and very well-written book
—— Gavin Flood , Church TimesAn epic story with a polemical edge… [a] lucid account of the evolution of sacred text… The Lost Art of Scripture is an impressive achievement, presenting a wide sweep of global religious history in little more than five hundred pages… Armstrong is…an accomplished and fluent writer
—— Literary ReviewFry really brings the tale to life, adding his own wry humour to the mix . . . Well worth a read
—— The Hunsbury HandbookA story thousands of years old, only Fry could rewrite this so captivating as ever
—— School HouseFry takes us from the founding myth of Troy, through its most famous inhabitants and the infamous war, to the razing of the city by the vengeful and victorious Achaeans
—— TimesSad, painful, warm, revelatory and utterly fascinating. I think we would live in a slightly kinder and better country if everyone read this book.
—— Mark Haddon , New StatesmanThis is a fiercely important book with a big beating heart-Mohsin Zaidi has delivered to us a deeply personal story that is an urgent manual for our times.
—— Tope Folarin, Author of 'A Particular Kind of Black Man'A Dutiful Boy is a must read that will undoubtedly move you
—— Gay Times[A] powerful read
—— Manisha Talagala , DESIblitzDeeply affecting and often funny, A Dutiful Boy is an honest picture of what it is like to grow up day and Muslim in twenty-first-century Britain
—— Sarah Jilani , Times Literary SupplementA beautifully written book, a lovely story, life-affirming.
—— Jeremy VineOne of the most eloquent and inspiring memoirs of recent years... A Dutiful Boy is real-life storytelling at its finest
—— Mr Porter, *Summer Reads of 2021*Mohsin Zaidi...in a compassionate, compelling and humorous way, tells his story of seeking acceptance within the gay community, and within the Muslim community in which he grew up
—— Gilllian Carty , Scottish Legal NewsA powerful portrayal of being able to live authentically despite all the odds
—— Mike Findlay , ScotsmanZaidi's affecting memoir recounts his journey growing up in east London in a devout Muslim household. He has a secret, one he cannot share with anyone - he is gay. When he moves away to study at Oxford he finds, for the first time, the possibility of living his life authentically. The dissonance this causes in him - of finding a way to accept himself while knowing his family will not do the same - is so sensitively depicted. One of the most moving chapters includes him coming home to a witch doctor, who his family has summoned to "cure" him. This is an incredibly important read, full of hope.
—— Jyoti Patel, The GuardianA beautifully written book, a lovely story, life-affirming
—— Jeremy VineZaidi's account is raw, honest and at times quite painful to read. It's so vivid that it feels almost tangible, as though you're living the experiences of the author himself.
—— VogueThis heartfelt and honest book is beautifully written and full of hope
—— The New ArabWe're obsessed with Emily Maitlis in this house
—— Nick GrimshawEmily Maitlis is a particular hero of mine . . . I know I'm in for a treat with Airhead
—— Gaby Huddart, Editor-in-chief, Good HousekeepingEmily Maitlis is one of my favourite interviewers and I want to read her tales of interviewing people such as Donald Trump, Theresa May and Simon Cowell
—— Catriona Shearer, Sunday MailA fascinating behind-the-scenes insight into modern television news
—— Time & Leisure MagazineIt's a brilliant, often funny, behind-the-scenes account of her working life, written by one of Britain's best television broadcasters. It proves she's far from an airhead!
—— John CravenShe gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most engaging interviews she's conducted in recent years - with all the wrangling, arguing, pleading and last-minute script writing they involved. Insightful, funny and engrossing, we love it.
—— SheerLuxe