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The Book of Common Prayer (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
The Book of Common Prayer (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
May 19, 2024 6:25 PM

Author:James Wood

The Book of Common Prayer (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

As essential to the canon as the Bible and the plays of Shakespeare, The Book of Common Prayer has been in daily use for centuries. Originally produced for the Church of England in the sixteenth century by Thomas Cranmer, who was burned at the stake upon the accession to the throne of the ardently Catholic Queen Mary, it contains the entire liturgy as first presented in English-as well as some of the oldest phrases to be used by modern English speakers. H ere are daily prayers, scripture readings, psalm recitals, and the services marking such religious milestones as baptism, confirmation, and marriage, all from the 1662 edition, whose influence can be seen in the work of some of the greatest writers in English literature, from Donne and Swift to Austen and the Brontës.

This beautiful deluxe edition includes a new introduction by The New Yorker's book critic James Wood, discussing how The Book of Common Prayer has influenced the English language and literature. Its small trim size allows for easy portability as a daily devotional.

Reviews

The godfather of gurus is back... the style is clear and engaging

—— Daily Express

This book represents the summation of [Vermes's] thinking about the early history of Christianity. It is a challenging and engaging book that sets out to retrace the route by which a Jewish preacher in 1st-century Israel came to be declared as consubstantial and co-equal with the omnipotent, omniscient only God

—— Stuart Kelly , Scotsman

A major contribution to our understanding of the historical Jesus

—— Financial Times

A magnum opus of early Christian history and one of the year's most significant titles

—— Bookseller

A very accessible and entertaining read

—— Gareth Williams , Scotland on Sunday BOOKS OF THE YEAR

Mindfulness has become a serious movement, now with champions among policy makers as well as Buddhists. Thich Nhat Hanh is one of its guiding spirits

—— The Times Literary Supplement

Thich Nhat Hanh's words are like water. Simple, pure, transparent, and absolutely indispensable for life

—— Alejandro Iñárritu, director of Birdman and The Revenant

Describes the painful process by which a human being becomes a symbol

—— Sunday Telegraph (Seven)

Sprawling, intimate, surreal, it exerts a mesmeric hold

—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent

Poignant and honest

—— Big Issue in the North

Joseph Anton conveys a clear and shaming picture of his ordeal… The reader is fully on Rushdie’s side.

—— Pankaj Mishra , Guardian

A frank and zestful memoir...a precious historical document and an immersive page-turning read...pacey, intimate, surreal, whipped along by love and scorn and overflowing with tall tales...it exerts a mesmeric hold with high-octane storytelling.

—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent

The book speaks to the heart, and to conscience.

—— John Lloyd , Financial Times

An indispensable text that needs no description.

—— Margaret Drabble , New Statesman

The most gripping, moving and entertaining literary memoir I have ever read.

—— Amanda Craig , Independent on Sunday

The story Rushdie tells is never less than gripping.

—— Colin McCabe , New Statesman

A magnificent new memoir.

—— Matthew d’Ancona , Evening Standard

This moving, sometimes irritating, often beautiful and blissfully funny memoir is also a resounding manifesto, reminding us that novelists have a right and duty to tackle the most controversial subjects.

—— Jake Kerridge , Sunday Express

His big, bold, controversial memoir…matches Rushdie’s confident personality.

—— Ian Finlayson , The Times

[A book that] rattles with the terror of the moment.

—— Graeme Wood , Barnes & Noble Review

The big book of the week was Salman Rushdie's memoir Joseph Anton

—— Guardian

It’s an extraordinary document.

—— Anthony Cummins , Metro

Rushdie says art outlasts persecution, but artists may not. A look at how this dichotomy has played out in his life.

—— Salil Tripathi , Live Mint

Joseph Anton is as riveting for the small vignettes as the big, historical sweep.

—— Ginny Dougary , Financial Times

Reads like a thriller...painfully true.

—— Robert McCrum , Observer

He is compelling here...grippingly reconstructing his long years in hiding.

—— Robert Collins , Sunday Times

[N]ot many Americans had heard of Rushdie until Valentines Day, 1989, when the dying Ayatollah Khomeni of Iran issued the infamous fatwa calling for Rushdie’s head... Rushdie spent most of the next decade in hiding, accompanied by armed British agents. He’s now published his account of that stranger-than-fiction time: Joseph Anton: A Memoir.

—— Kurt Andersen , Studio 360

Aside from the vivid, splendidly told account of his childhood and family background, Rushdie's book charts in, fascinating, grimly humourous detail, the shadowy half-life he lived until that fatwah was lifted on March 27, 2002.

—— Paddy Kehoe , RTE Ten
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