About this item
Beginning with Walt Whitman singing hymns at a wounded soldier's bedside during the Civil War, this surprising and vivid anthology ranges straight through to the twenty-first century to end with Francine Prose crying tears of complicated joy at the sight of Whitman's words in Zuccotti Park during the brief days of the Occupy movement. The first anthology of its kind, Radiant Truths gathers an exquisite selection of writings by both well-known and forgotten American authors and thinkers, each engaged in the challenges of writing about religion, of documenting "things unseen." Their contributions to the genre of literary journalism - the telling of factual stories using the techniques of fiction and poetry - make this volume one of the most exciting anthologies of creative nonfiction to have emerged in years.
About the Author
Jeff Sharlet is the New York Times and national bestselling author of THE FAMILY and C STREET, and executive producer of the 2019 Netflix five-part documentary series based on them, THE FAMILY. His other books include THIS BRILLIANT DARKNESS, forthcoming from W.W. Norton in February '20, and SWEET HEAVEN WHEN I DIE. With Peter Manseau he wrote KILLING THE BUDDHA and edited BELIEVER, BEWARE. Of SWEET HEAVEN WHEN I DIE, The Washington Post writes, "This book belongs in the tradition of long-form, narrative nonfiction best exemplified by Joan Didion, John McPhee [and] Norman Mailer ... Sharlet deserves a place alongside such masters." An article for GQ that became the beginning of THIS BRILLIANT DARKNESS won a National Magazine Award, and excerpts from C STREET were honored with the Molly Ivins Prize, the Thomas Jefferson Award, the Outspoken Award, and the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association's prize for feature writing. Barbara Ehrenreich called THE FAMILY "one of the most compelling and brilliantly researched exposes you'll ever read."Sharlet is Associate Professor of Creative Nonfiction at Dartmouth College, a contributing editor at Harper's Magazine and Rolling Stone, and editor-at-large for VQR. He has been a frequent commentator on MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show" and NPR's "Fresh Air" and has appeared on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart, "Real Time with Bill Maher," "Hardball," "Democracy Now," and other programs. Sharlet is a cofounder of KillingTheBuddha.com, winner of the Utne/Alternative Press Award, and TheRevealer.org, created at NYU's Center for Religion and Media with support from the Pew Charitable Trust. He has received grants and fellowships from The MacDowell Colony, the Blue Mountain Center, The Nation Institute, and other organizations. His writing on music has twice been featured in the annual BEST MUSIC WRITING volume.
