Do You Believe?
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Overview
Some of the most well-known and well-respected cultural figures of our time enter into intimate and illuminating conversation about their personal beliefs, about belief itself, about religion, and about God.
Antonio Monda is a disarming, rigorous interviewer, asking the most difficult questions (he often begins an interview point blank: “Do you believe in God?”) that lead to the most wide-ranging conversations. An ardent believer himself, Monda talks both with atheists (asked what she feels when she meets a believer, Grace Paley replies: “I respect his thinking and his beliefs, but at the same time I think he’s deluded”) and other believers, their discussion ranging from personal images of God (Michael Cunningham sees God as a black woman, Derek Walcott as a wise old white man with a beard) to religion’s place in American culture, from the afterlife to the concepts of good and evil, from fundamentalism to the Bible. And almost without fail, the conversations turn to questions of art and literature. Toni Morrison discusses Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner, Richard Ford invokes Wallace Stevens, and David Lynch draws attention to the religious aspects of Bu–uel, Fellini...and Harold Ramis's Groundhog Day.
Informal, revealing, unexpected, Do You Believe? is a captivating and thought-provoking meditation how faith, in all its facets, remains profoundly relevant for and in our culture.
Synopsis
Some of the most well-known and well-respected cultural figures of our time enter into intimate and illuminating conversation about their personal beliefs, about belief itself, about religion, and about God.
Antonio Monda is a disarming, rigorous interviewer, asking the most difficult questions (he often begins an interview point blank: “Do you believe in God?”) that lead to the most wide-ranging conversations. An ardent believer himself, Monda talks both with atheists (asked what she feels when she meets a believer, Grace Paley replies: “I respect his thinking and his beliefs, but at the same time I think he’s deluded”) and other believers, their discussion ranging from personal images of God (Michael Cunningham sees God as a black woman, Derek Walcott as a wise old white man with a beard) to religion’s place in American culture, from the afterlife to the concepts of good and evil, from fundamentalism to the Bible. And almost without fail, the conversations turn to questions of art and literature. Toni Morrison discusses Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner, Richard Ford invokes Wallace Stevens, and David Lynch draws attention to the religious aspects of Bu–uel, Fellini...and Harold Ramis's Groundhog Day.
Informal, revealing, unexpected, Do You Believe? is a captivating and thought-provoking meditation how faith, in all its facets, remains profoundly relevant for and in our culture.
The Barnes & Noble Review
Teacher and filmmaker Antonio Monda interviewed 18 prestigious figures from the arts for this book, although the word "interviewed" overstates it a touch: "polled" might be better, given that his questions focus, like those of a telemarketer, on a single issue. Monda wants to know from these eminences whether they believe in God, and if so, what form their belief takes. Some of them seem rather nettled by his presumption. "I'm afraid of banality," says Saul Bellow. Others, meanwhile, seem not to be afraid of banality at all: "It's said that God is in the details," muses Richard Ford. "Or maybe it's the Devil who's in the details. I always get those two confused." But I may be doing Ford an injustice here: Do You Believe? was first published in Italy in 2006 as Tu Credi? and then translated for this edition by Ann Goldstein, which means that the original comments have been rendered into Italian and then back out of it -- not a process likely to preserve much of their native zest. So Spike Lee, in these pages, sounds exactly like Jane Fonda, whose diction in turn strongly resembles that of David Lynch. Or could it be that talking about God reduces all but the simplest or most brilliant to the same state of windy abstraction? Certainly, there'd be a hint of divine justice in that. --James Parker
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Monda, a Catholic who teaches film at NYU, offers 18 interviews with renowned writers, thinkers, artists and film directors in this brief collection about God and faith. Though many subjects express skepticism about religion, some reveal a deep longing for faith: Novelist Michael Cunningham discusses his childhood fascination with religion, when he painted religious scenes and made communion wafers out of Wonder Bread, and Jonathan Franzen speaks of being influenced by the simultaneously terrifying and comforting character of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia. Most of the interviewees voice concern about religious absolutism and fundamentalism, particularly when connected to politics; when Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., states that "there is nothing more dangerous than a person in politics who is certain that he is acting in the name of God," he represents the group well. But there are also key differences here, from the Catholicism that infuses Martin Scorsese's films to the pantheism that Paula Fox espouses to Toni Morrison's idea of God as "an infinite growing that discourages definitions but not knowledge." As a collection, there are uneven moments; Monda refers throughout to his interview with poet Derek Walcott, but Walcott's interview doesn't appear until almost the end of the book. Overall, though, this is a thoughtful, provocative and concise volume. (Nov. 6)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationLibrary Journal
Respected cultural critic Monda (Kanbar Inst. of Film & Television, NYU) proves himself an adventurous and risk-taking dialog partner as he carries out a series of conversations on God, religion, and faith with some of the preeminent voices in American culture. Monda asks celebrities ranging from Salman Rushdie and Toni Morrison to Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese whether they believe in God and how their belief or nonbelief has affected their life choices. The discussion sends an empowering message to those raising preliminary questions about faith and is a touchstone for well-traveled souls. Monda's humble voice and his ability to engage the interviewees in a dialog that is both insightful and sincere make the book especially accessible. He offers readers the beauty, excitement, and perplexity of the journey, giving them hope to work out their answers. Many works wrestle with the question Monda poses here, but few manage it with such grace and undeniable power. For priority purchase in those public and academic libraries seeking to provide works that reflect glimpses into Americans' cultural lives; a natural for religion collections in all public libraries.
—Leroy Hommerding