New York Times bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates’s strongest and most unsparing novel yet—an always engrossing, often shocking evocation of female rage, gallantry, and grit. The time is the 1950s. The place is a blue-collar town in upstate New York, where five high school girls join a gang dedicated to pride, power, and vengeance on a world that seems made to denigrate and destroy them. Here is the secret history of a sisterhood of blood, a haven from a world of male oppressors, marked by a liberating fury that burns too hot to last. Above all, it is the story of Legs Sadovsky, with her lean, on-the-edge, icy beauty, whose nerve, muscle, hate, and hurt make her the spark of Foxfire: its guiding spirit, its burning core. At once brutal and lyrical, this is a careening joyride of a novel—charged with outlaw energy and lit by intense emotion. Amid scenes of violence and vengeance lies this novel’s greatest power: the exquisite, astonishing rendering of the bonds that link the Foxfire girls together. Foxfire reaffirms Joyce Carol Oates’s place at the very summit of American writing.
A tribute to the brilliant craftsmanship of one of our most distinguished writers, providing valuable insight into her inspiration and her method Joyce Carol Oates is widely regarded as one of America's greatest contemporary literary figures. Having written in a number of genres -- prose, poetry, personal and critical essays, as well as plays -- she is an artist ideally suited to answer essential questions about what makes a story striking, a novel come alive, a writer an artist as well as a craftsman. In The Faith of a Writer, Oates discusses the subjects most important to the narrative craft, touching on topics such as inspiration, memory, self-criticism, and "the unique power of the unconscious." On a more personal note, she speaks of childhood inspirations, offers advice to young writers, and discusses the wildly varying states of mind of a writer at work. Oates also pays homage to those she calls her "significant predecessors" and discusses the importance of reading in the life of a writer. Oates claims, "Inspiration and energy and even genius are rarely enough to make 'art': for prose fiction is also a craft, and craft must be learned, whether by accident or design." In fourteen succinct chapters, The Faith of a Writer provides valuable lessons on how language, ideas, and experience are assembled to create art.
Reflecting the salient undercurrents of contemporary researh on women writers, this volume is an appraisal of the work of the writer as woman and presents critics' perceptions about how women writers have dealt with the complexity of changing female visions in the twentieth century. Each of the thirty-four essays, contributed by some of today's most distinguished writers, speaks to the work of a particular twentieth-century woman writer, and each constitutes a contribution to the scholarly debate. Questions are raised as to the appropriate posture a critic should adopt, and whether a critic of women's writing should deal with the work as the product of a woman's hand, dwelling on the sensibilities of the female consciousness, or assume that the proper point of departure remains the artistic and aesthetic norms that have emerged from generations of male-defined practice.
"Read it for twists on twists, meditations on faith, and a deeply thoughtful treatment of an evangelical community." — Glamour, Beach Reads That Are Like Summer in a Book “A thoughtful and candid meditation on faith, family, and forgiveness . . . fabulous.” —Claire Lombardo, New York Times bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had Recommended by Good Housekeeping, Elle, Parade, Real Simple, Glamour,Refinery29,Bustle, Oprah Daily, The Millions, Shondaland, Yahoo!, Literary Hub, and more! A mesmerizing debut novel set in northern Texas about two sisters who discover an unsettling secret about their father, the head pastor of an evangelical megachurch, that upends their lives and community—a story of family, identity, and the delicate line between faith and deception. Luke Nolan has led the Hope congregation for more than a decade, while his wife and daughters have patiently upheld what it means to live righteously. Made famous by a viral sermon on purity co-written with his eldest daughter, Abigail, Luke is the prototype of a modern preacher: tall, handsome, a spellbinding speaker. But his younger daughter Caroline has begun to notice the cracks in their comfortable life. She is certain that her perfect, pristine sister is about to marry the wrong man—and Caroline has slid into sin with a boy she’s known her entire life, wondering why God would care so much about her virginity anyway. When it comes to light, five weeks before Abigail’s wedding, that Luke has been lying to his family, the entire Nolan clan falls into a tailspin. Caroline seizes the opportunity to be alone with her sister. The two girls flee to the ranch they inherited from their maternal grandmother, far removed from the embarrassing drama of their parents and the prying eyes of the community. But with the date of Abigail’s wedding fast approaching, the sisters will have to make a hard decision about which familial bonds are worth protecting. An intimate coming-of-age story and a modern woman’s read, God Spare the Girls lays bare the rabid love of sisterhood and asks what we owe our communities, our families, and ourselves. “A deeply felt book about love — love for family and community, for people who sustain you and people who disappoint you. And love for God, too, which Kelsey McKinney writes about with humane and incisive frankness.”—Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over “The accomplishment of this canny novel is in positing coming of age itself as a loss of faith—not only in the church, but in our parents, our family, and the world as we thought we understood it.” — Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World Behind and Rich and Pretty
A deep well of practical and inspirational wisdom for every Christian writer Imagine you have the chance to spend an hour or so alone with a couple of well-published writers. Imagine they share with you secrets of their art, and reveal how their art relates to their faith. This is the experience awaiting you with the twenty-two authors of this book. In A Syllable of Water, some of today's leading writers of faith reflect on all aspects of the writing vocation and process in ways that will inform and inspire. Philip Yancey, Richard Foster, Luci Shaw, and others discuss everything from the tools of a writer to the ways that they spend their time when they are not writing. Editors such as John Wilson (Books & Culture) and American Book Award-winning Cherokee poet, Diane Glancy, reflect on the value of the editor-writer conversation, as well as the power of revision. And other writers of stature including Doris Betts, John Leax, Erin McGraw, Harold Fickett, Virginia Stem Owens, Jeanne Murray Walker, Scott Cairns, and Eugene H. Peterson offer sage advice on how to approach nearly every imaginable genre from fiction and nonfiction to memoir, poetry, and translation. Editor Emilie Griffin is the author of several books, including Small Surrenders, Doors into Prayer and Wonderful and Dark is This Road. She is a founding member of the Chrysostom Society, a group of distinguished writers who meet periodically to discuss matters of faith and writing.
Jesus, Author of Our Faith, is a book centered on Jesus and based on sermons Tozer preached from the final chapters of the letter to the Hebrews. The author's intention, from chapter to chapter, is to underscore the necessity of an active, abiding faith in Jesus Christ—only in that way can we please God. This book is a companion volume to Jesus, Our Man in Glory, which is based on the earlier chapters of Hebrews. Together, the two books examine most of the important emphases in that significant Letter. They do so in Tozer's inimitable style and with his incisive expression.
Memorable Bible-Era Fiction From Award-Winning Author King Manaseh and his friend Joshua were nurtured together in the faith of their godly fathers. but anger toward God smolders in Manasseh's heart after his father's unexpected death, and his insecurity makes him easy prey for the false claims of sorcery and divination. When Joshua stands up for the truth, the battle lines are drawn, and Joshua must flee his life of privilege. Unable to understand why his boyhood friend has turned against him, and why he must stand alone in the face of such opposition, Joshua comes perilously close to losing his faith. Can Joshua rescue the faithful remnant from Manasseh's persecution? Has it all gone too far..or will he rediscover his father's God? Faith of My Fathers is a riveting story of intrigue, deception, danger, and suspense.
Hats of Faith is a simple and striking introduction to the shared custom of religious head coverings. With bright images and a carefully researched interfaith text, this thoughtful book inspires understanding and celebrates our culturally diverse modern world.
When lobbyist Faith Lockhart stumbles upon a corruption scheme at the highest levels of government, she becomes a dangerous witness who the most powerful men in the world will go to any lengths to silence in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller. In a secluded house not far from Washington, D.C., the FBI is interviewing one of the most important witnesses it has ever had: a young woman named Faith Lockhart. For Faith has done too much, knows too much, and will tell too much. Feared by some of the most powerful men in the world, Faith has been targeted to die. But when a private investigator walks into the middle of the assassination attempt, the shooting suddenly goes wrong, and an FBI agent is killed. Now Faith Lockhart must flee for her life--with her story, her deadly secret, and an unknown man she's forced to trust...
What is happening in Islam is of concern to more than Muslims. The Qur’an is the prime possession of Muslims: how then, are they reading and understanding their sacred Book today? This volume, originally published in 1985, examines eight writers from India, Egypt, Iran and Senegal. Their way with the Qur’an indicates how some in Islam respond to the pressures in life and thought, associated in the West with thinkers such as Kierkegaard, Marx, Camus, Kafka, Jung, Fanon and De Chardin.
