Genesis: A living Coversation (Pbs Series)

People need stories to make sense of the world--to hold their lives together, and to fasten on to those values that last. The greatest stories are found in the Bible, enduring through the centuries. In Genesis, acclaimed television journalist Bill Moyers brings together some of the world's liveliest minds for spirited round-table discussions of the ageless stories from the Bible's first, towering book.



Creation, temptation, murder, exile, and family strife--these emerge from every page of Genesis and speak to us today. Genesis invites readers into a lively and accessible discussion of the manifold meanings of these stories, and engages us in a fascinating exploration of the relationship between interpreter and text. Among the scores of writers, theologians, artists, and thinkers in the series are Mary Gordon, Phyllis Trible, John Barth, Faye Kellerman, Samuel Proctor, Aviva Zornberg, Walter Brueggemann, Robert Alter, Oscar Hijuelos, Charles Johnson, Stephen Mitchell, Leon Kass, Elaine Pagels, Bharati Mukherjee, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Elizabeth Swados, Renita Weems--all in a dazzling, multi-layered chorus of voices.



With the same interplay of text, photographs, and art that made The Power of Myth and Healing and the Mind so dynamic and unforgettable, Genesis has the capacity to enrich people's lives intellectually and spiritually.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

In all honesty, when I first tuned into Genesis the PBS series, I wasn't really in the mood to hear a cabal of hyper-intellectual critics enlighten me with their interpretations of an already widely familiar religious text. Within seconds of watching, however, I was completely engrossed in a conversation unlike any I'd experienced before--lively, intelligent, generous, illuminating, exciting. If you didn't catch the series, or even if you did and you still want more, pick up this book. It expands in places where the program had to be cut and is just as riveting. The commentary and the "already familiar text" prove as multidimensional and visceral as life itself.