Blog


About


Books

 Latest Post: "What's Wrong With Dying?"

Agnostic
A Spirited Manifesto
Available April 4, 2016

   Who is the AT?   Books by LH
  • Agnostic

  • The First Muslim

  • After The Prophet

  • Jezebel

  • Mary

  • More from LH

     

Reviewing The Review

Posted January 27th, 2016 by Lesley Hazleton

ag final coverThe first pre-publication review of Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto just arrived from Booklist:

“Hazleton’s manifesto makes the suspension of conviction as attractive as any theist or atheist testament,” it concludes.

Well, I’d say far more attractive, but then I might be a tad biased.

It’s always odd to find your own work written about in terms you’d never use.  “Mental comfort?”  None of that for me, thank you!   “Historiography?”  Never on the agenda.  But overall, my review of the review is that it’s a serviceable overview, and a very positive one.

Feel free to add your own review of it, of course.  And don’t fear using the pre-order button.  I’ll post soon about why this is important (it involves the mysterious realm of algorithms).

Meanwhile, roll on, April 5!

Perhaps it’s not surprising that the author of accessible, balanced accounts of Muhammad, the Sunni-Shia split in Islam, and the Blessed Virgin withholds judgment about the existence of God.  In eight personably persuasive chapters, she counts the benefits of agnosticism, though not so much for the practice of objective historiography as for personal intellectual freedom and mental comfort.  Neither believing nor disbelieving in God removes the irksome pressure to choose sides.  It allows deep and continual exploration into the realities the word God used to contain.  It permits living in doubt or, as Emily Dickinson had it, “dwell[ing] in possibility.” It accepts irresolvable mystery, facilitates understanding how humans makes meaning, encourages acknowledging mortality (“The meaning of life is that it stops”), and grasping — well, appreciating — infinity.  Finally, agnosticism lets one give up on the soul — a possession — in favor of soul as a “quality of existence,” as when we say something is soulful.  Informed by science, philosophy, literature, history, travel, hiking, and more, Hazleton’s manifesto makes the suspension of conviction as attractive as any theist or atheist testament.

— Ray Olson, Booklist, February 1, 2016

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)

Related

Share this post:  Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinmail
File under: agnosticism, existence | Tagged: Tags: Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto, Booklist, pre-order, Ray Olson, review | 5 Comments
  1. rebecca brown says:
    January 27, 2016 at 12:29 pm

    I think these notices are fantastic!! And I’m sure more glorious ones are to come. Brava!!!

  2. Leo Schlosberg says:
    January 27, 2016 at 5:06 pm

    Ms. Hazleton: I barely know of you (have read a tiny bit of your blog) and do not know why i bother writing. I decided to google you and misspelled you as Hazelton, which explained why you did not appear in the first few pages of search results (most of the time most of the people do not go further than page 1). So then I tried “Hazleton” and was quite surprised to not see you until page 4. Since clearly self-promotion is of some important to you, I suggest you get a marketing or SEO professional. Your core notions seem to me to be important and I am sure you want to reach more people. In 2016, google is a major path in that direction.

    Leo Schlosberg (not even on page 4 if you google only the last name, but easily found with the whole name)

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 27, 2016 at 5:56 pm

      Appreciate the concern, Leo. You’re undoubtedly right: I’m not very good at the self-promotion thing. Probably the lingering effect of an old-fashioned English childhood. I will, as they say, take it under advisement, but in the meantime, I think I prefer to rely on real people like yourself to spread the word. Thanks for your determination in finding me! — Lesley.

  3. Faridullah khan. says:
    January 31, 2016 at 7:11 am

    Consciously leaving doubt and not praying humbly for clarity if not faith is pathetic.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 31, 2016 at 11:18 am

      Yay! I unhumbly lay claim to my own pathos!

Order the Book

Available online from:
  • Amazon.com
  • Barnes & Noble
  • IndieBound
  • Powell's
Or from your favorite bookseller.

Tag Cloud

absurd agnosticism art atheism Buddhism Christianity ecology existence feminism fundamentalism Islam Judaism light Middle East sanity technology ugliness US politics war women

Recent Posts

  • “What’s Wrong With Dying?” February 9, 2017
  • The Poem That Stopped Me Crying December 30, 2016
  • Talking About Soul at TED December 5, 2016
  • ‘Healing’? No Way. November 10, 2016
  • Psychopath, Defined August 2, 2016
  • Lovely NYT Review of ‘Agnostic’! July 14, 2016
  • Playing With Stillness June 22, 2016
  • Inside Palestine June 20, 2016
  • Virtual Unreality June 6, 2016
  • The Free-Speech Challenge May 23, 2016
  • Category-Free April 20, 2016
  • Staring At The Void April 13, 2016
  • Sherlock And Me April 3, 2016
  • Hard-Wired? Really? March 22, 2016
  • A Quantum Novel March 9, 2016
  • This Pre-Order Thing March 4, 2016
  • The Agnostic Celebration February 29, 2016
  • The First Two Pages February 23, 2016
  • Two Thumbs-Up For “Agnostic” February 10, 2016
  • A Superbowl Holdout February 8, 2016
Skip to toolbar
  • About WordPress
    • WordPress.org
    • Documentation
    • Support Forums
    • Feedback