God-Talk in America

Rating:
Summary: An amazing overview of theological discourse in America.
Review: I am prompted to review this book because the only reader review rates this book so poorly. I read it several years ago and was very impressed with Mrs. Tickle's knowledge of contemporary religious discourse (printed, oral, and electronic). I found her material to be extremely well-documented and her prose style to be simple on first glance. However, her thoughts are complex and invite careful reading. Chapters were brief but so densely packed with meaning that more than one reading yielded ideas on several levels. I assumed that Mrs. Tickle is a Ph.D. of religious studies and teaches in a university or seminary somewhere. Only this year did I discover that she lives on a farm in rural Tennessee and is the mother of seven children. She has been a contributing editor in religion for Publishers Weekly for many years, and she has obviously done her homework. This is not a book for people who want an easy romp through some inspirational matter, but those who want to have an overview of much that is happening in America should give it a try. It looks like a simple text, but it is a rich field for the careful, thoughtful reader.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing overview of theological discourse in America.
Review: I am prompted to review this book because the only reader review rates this book so poorly. I read it several years ago and was very impressed with Mrs. Tickle's knowledge of contemporary religious discourse (printed, oral, and electronic). I found her material to be extremely well-documented and her prose style to be simple on first glance. However, her thoughts are complex and invite careful reading. Chapters were brief but so densely packed with meaning that more than one reading yielded ideas on several levels. I assumed that Mrs. Tickle is a Ph.D. of religious studies and teaches in a university or seminary somewhere. Only this year did I discover that she lives on a farm in rural Tennessee and is the mother of seven children. She has been a contributing editor in religion for Publishers Weekly for many years, and she has obviously done her homework. This is not a book for people who want an easy romp through some inspirational matter, but those who want to have an overview of much that is happening in America should give it a try. It looks like a simple text, but it is a rich field for the careful, thoughtful reader.

Rating:
Summary: disappointing glance at significant subject
Review: This book, by a religion editor who should have much to say, is an example of rambling impressionistic writing of the worst sort. A disappointing waste of time and money!