by Jay Jackson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2020
While repetitive in places, this work delivers a heartfelt attack on an often overlooked topic.
A writer examines the horrors of male circumcision.
Debut author Jackson explains early on in his autobiographical book that he has quite a few issues with circumcision, including the seemingly standard practice of performing the procedure on male infants in the United States. One of his main arguments is that in the modern-day world, circumcision serves no real purpose and amounts to “sexual mutilation.” And if one truly wants to be circumcised, why not let that individual make the decision as a consenting adult rather than a defenseless child? The volume tells not so much the story of circumcision in general (though a later chapter addresses the work of an early 20th-century advocate named Dr. Peter Charles Remondino) as the author’s personal tale. And it is a story fraught with family trauma, angry urologists, and painful cosmetic surgery. The author details his own apathetic attitude toward religion as well as the struggles he and his husband have faced in a world that has often been unkind to their status as a gay married couple. To say that Jackson’s words are raw would be an understatement. Readers who feel squeamish at the thought of someone’s intricate “taping” routine to try to overcome his circumcision are unlikely to get far in the book. The author’s anger is palpable, though his hostility can become monotonous. His lengthy attack on Remondino (“If circumcision cures all mental illness, then Dr. Remondino’s own cropped penis should have rendered him less of a moron”) could have been summed up more succinctly. Yet Jackson’s honesty provides a new way of looking at a practice that is rarely discussed. In the end, this intriguing subject is not only brought to light, but also done so in an impassioned way.
While repetitive in places, this work delivers a heartfelt attack on an often overlooked topic. (notes)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73455-580-6
Page Count: 372
Publisher: Hookona Books
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Marilynne Robinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 12, 2024
In this highly learned yet accessible book, Robinson offers believers fresh insight into a well-studied text.
A deeply thoughtful exploration of the first book of the Bible.
In this illuminating work of biblical analysis, Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Robinson, whose Gilead series contains a variety of Christian themes, takes readers on a dedicated layperson’s journey through the Book of Genesis. The author meanders delightfully through the text, ruminating on one tale after another while searching for themes and mining for universal truths. Robinson approaches Genesis with a reverence and level of faith uncommon to modern mainstream writers, yet she’s also equipped with the appropriate tools for cogent criticism. Throughout this luminous exegesis, which will appeal to all practicing Christians, the author discusses overarching themes in Genesis. First is the benevolence of God. Robinson points out that “to say that God is the good creator of a good creation” sets the God of Genesis in opposition to the gods of other ancient creation stories, who range from indifferent to evil. This goodness carries through the entirety of Genesis, demonstrated through grace. “Grace tempers judgment,” writes the author, noting that despite well-deserved instances of wrath or punishment, God relents time after time. Another overarching theme is the interplay between God’s providence and humanity’s independence. Across the Book of Genesis, otherwise ordinary people make decisions that will affect the future in significant ways, yet events are consistently steered by God’s omnipotence. For instance, Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, and that action has reverberated throughout the history of all Jewish people. Robinson indirectly asks readers to consider where the line is between the actions of God and the actions of creation. “He chose to let us be,” she concludes, “to let time yield what it will—within the vast latitude granted by providence.”
In this highly learned yet accessible book, Robinson offers believers fresh insight into a well-studied text.Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780374299408
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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by Paul Kalanithi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 19, 2016
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
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A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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