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The Selected Essays of Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal—novelist, playwright, critic, screenwriter, memoirist, indefatigable political commentator, and controversialist—is America’s premier man of letters. No other writer brings more sparkling wit, vast learning, indelible personality, and provocative mirth to the job of writing an essay. This long-needed volume comprises some twenty-four of his best-loved pieces of criticism, political commentary, memoir, portraiture, and, occasionally, unfettered score settling. It will stand as one of the most enjoyable and durable works from the hand and mind of this vastly accomplished and entertaining immortal of American literature.
Gore Vidal, Jay Parini, Jay Parini (editor) (Author), Jeff Cummings (Narrator)
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Jesus, Paul, and the Early Christians
Jesus comes to me and you through thousands of years of imagery and writing—a vast web of material that often does more to obscure than reveal. Now, one of America’s greatest living storytellers retells the greatest story ever told with unprecedented clarity and insight. An accomplished poet and author, Jay Parini has earned widespread recognition as an innovator in the genre of biographical fiction. Among his books on towering literary figures like John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Herman Melville, and Robert Frost, he is perhaps best known for his novel about Leo Tolstoy, which was adapted into the 2010 Academy Award-nominated film The Last Station. Now, in Jesus, Paul, and the Early Christians, Parini bends his narrative talents to one of the most storied men in all of history: Jesus Christ. Parini takes what he calls a “mythic” approach to religion. Throughout Jesus, Paul, and the Early Christians, you will contemplate the rise from history to mystery. In a word, this involves viewing myths as tears in the fabric of reality. Parini shows you how the literal events of history take a backseat to the powerful and enthralling symbolic meaning of the lives of Jesus, Paul, and others. Eloquent and introspective, Parini proves an entertaining guide to early Christianity, its root meanings, and its life-changing possibilities. As you gain deep insights into Jesus’ humanity, you will transform your relationship with God and the eternal life.
Jay Parini (Author), Jay Parini (Narrator)
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The Way of Jesus: Living a Spiritual and Ethical Life
Renowned poet and novelist Jay Parini's The Way of Jesus is a book for progressive Christians and spiritual seekers who struggle, as Parini does, with some of the basic questions about human existence: its limits and sadnesses, and its possibilities for awareness and understanding. Part guide to Christian living, part spiritual autobiography, The Way of Jesus is Jay Parini's exploration of what Jesus really meant, his effort to put love first in our daily lives. A lifelong Christian who has at times wavered and questioned his beliefs, Parini recounts his own efforts to follow Jesus's example, examines the contours of Christian thinking, and describes the solace and structure one can find in the rhythms of the church calendar. Parini's refreshingly undogmatic approach to Christian thinking incorporates teachings from other religions, as well as from poets and other writers who have helped Parini along his path to understanding.
Jay Parini (Author), Ronnie Butler (Narrator)
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West Mountain Epilogue: A Reading by Jay Parini from his New and Collected Poems: 1975-2015
A reading by Jay Parini of thirty three of his most celebrated poems. Jay Parini's readings are always an event, but too rare. For the first time, Parini has recorded his best known and most recent poems in an audiobook that welcomes the listener to enter his universe, which revolves around his deep connection to nature and underlines his concerns about the impacts of pollution and climate change. The audiobook follows the pattern of his popular readings, with the poet introducing each poem with context and comments, invariably revealing and often amusing. In these beautiful, haunting poems, Parini writes about the landscapes of mining country, of the railroads of Pennsylvania, of farm country, of worlds lost, families dispersed, faith tried and contested.
Jay Parini (Author), Jay Parini (Narrator)
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Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal
An intimate, authorized, yet frank biography of Gore Vidal (1925–2012), one of the most accomplished, visible, and controversial American novelists and cultural figures of the past century. The product of thirty years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini’s Empire of Self probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal’s colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well—a virtual Who’s Who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Princess Margaret, and the crème de la crème of Hollywood. The life of Gore Vidal was an amazingly full one—full of colorful incident, famous people, and lasting achievements—that calls out for careful evocation and examination. Jay Parini crafts Vidal’s life into an accessible, entertaining story that puts the experience of one of the great American figures of the postwar era into context, introduces the author and his works to a generation who may not know him, and looks behind the scenes at the man and his work in ways never possible before his death. Provided with unique access to Vidal’s life and his papers, he excavates many buried skeletons yet never loses sight of his deep respect for Vidal and his astounding gifts. This is the biography Gore Vidal has long needed. “Parini precedes each chapter with a vignette, a focused memory from his own experiences with Vidal. They range from amusing to deeply moving…A superbly personal biography that pulsates with intelligence, scholarship, and heart.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Jay Parini (Author), John Lescault (Narrator)
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SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTUREA New York Times Notable BookAs Leo Tolstoy's life draws to a tumultuous close, his tempestuous wife and most cunning disciple are locked in a whirlwind battle for the great man's soul. Torn between his professed doctrine of poverty and chastity and the reality of his enormous wealth and thirteen children, Tolstoy dramatically flees his home, only to fall ill at a tiny nearby rail station. The famous (and famously troubled) writer believes he is dying alone, unaware that over a hundred newspapermen camp outside awaiting hourly reports on his condition.Jay Parini moves deftly between a colorful cast of characters to create a stunning portrait of one of the world's most treasured authors. Dancing between fact and fiction, The Last Station is a brilliant and moving literary performance.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Jay Parini (Author), Various Artists (Narrator)
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