Tea Obreht talked to The Book Page about her peripatetic childhood (Yugoslavia, Egypt, Atlanta), her life in Ithaca, New York, and why she hasn't moved to the Big Apple. Obreht also discusses her writing process--and how TC Boyle helped her overcome writer's block.
Scott Edelstein discusses Sex and the Spiritual Teacher at Magers & Quinn, Thursday, March 3, at 7:30pm.Sex and the Spiritual Teacher: Why It Happens, When It’s a Problem, and What We All Can Do looks at the complex of forces that tempt otherwise insightful, compassionate, and well-intentioned teachers to lose their way--and that tempt some of their students to lose their way as well. It analyzes why most of our current efforts to keep spiritual teachers from transgressing usually don’t (and in fact can’t) work--and, perhaps most importantly, it suggests a set of practices and structures that can build community, encourage healthy student-teacher relationships, increase trust and spiritual intimacy between teachers and their students, and help authentic spiritual teachers stay happily monogamous or celibate. Sex and the Spiritual Teacher is for anyone who is or might become part of a spiritual community: students, teachers, clergy, lay leaders, and even casual visitors. It’s a reader-friendly, no-nonsense guide to making spiritual life safer and fuller for all of us--one person, relationship, and community at a time.
“Profound and compassionate. Anyone who has a spiritual teacher--or hopes to have one some day--should read this book.”-–Natalie Goldberg, bestselling author of Writing Down the Bones
Scott Edelstein has studied happily and productively with several spiritual teachers, including Toni Packer, Dainin Katagiri, Tim McCarthy, and (currently) Steve Hagen. As the friend of several spiritual teachers, he has also spent much time with them “off duty,” sometimes serving as confidant. He is a longtime practitioner of both Buddhism and Judaism, and a committed proponent of serious spirituality in all forms and traditions. Scott’s short work on spiritual topics has appeared in Shambhala Sun, American Jewish World, The Writer, the anthology What About God?, and elsewhere. He is also the author of 15 other books on a wide range of subjects. Learn more at www.sexandthespiritualteacher.com.
Details on this and all our events are here.--David E
The Paris Review has announced that they will publish The Third Reich, a new novel from Roberto Bolano, in its next four issues. Even better, Bolano's translator Natasha Wimmer told Granta that the new work is "a buoyant novel, ominous at moments but mostly just funny." Judge for yourself: the Wall Street Journal has published a brief excerpt here. 
M&Q has a selection of illustrations from Diseases of the Horse available now. They're all in good shape and suitable for framing. Prices range from $9.99 to $12.99. Get them while they last.--David E
“Meetings are a waste of time” is a sentiment many of us share, which is tragic because meetings bring us together as human beings. To achieve the kind of meaning or breakthrough results most of us really yearn for when we gather, the key quality needed is authentic engagement: a genuine expression of what is true for us, and an attentive listening to what is true for others. On Wednesday, February 16, at 7:30pm, Craig Neal visits M&Q to help end this cycle, when he discusses his new book The Art of Convening: Authentic Engagement in Meetings, Gatherings, and Conversations
Just in time for V-Day, Flavorwire has posted its list of "30 Literary Quotes That Just Might Get You Laid." The encouraging phrases range from Oscar Wilde (“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”) to Dorothy Parker (“I require only three things of a man. He must be handsome, ruthless and stupid.”) to Sam Lipsyte (“Stuff me in a tutu and let’s screen experimental videos all day.”).
John Berryman was renowned as a teacher at the University of Minnesota, but he also won the Pulitzer for 77 Dream Songs, and his influence as a poet nationally and even internationally was enormous. 
Via the invaluable Boing Boing comes word of the perfect project for a winter's night. Sanguine Gryphon's knitting pattern lets you make a pair of socks bearing the first lines of the oldest known copy of Beowolf, so your feet can be both warm and cool all winter long. 
