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Elaine Pagels's Reading List

The scholar and author, most recently, of “Why Religion?” tends to avoid reading science fiction: “Religious traditions already are packed with fantasy stories.”

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By the Book: Elaine Pagels (2018)

NYT By the Book column (2018-11-01).

Source: www.nytimes.com

The Jatakas
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"Tales of the Buddha's countless previous lives, as a compassionate fish, a clever merchant or a holy man offering himself as lunch to a hungry tiger."
Inside of a Dog
Alexandra Horowitz · Buy on Amazon
"An old favorite called "Inside of a Dog," by Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist who studies dogs."
Cover of Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Katherine Boo · Buy on Amazon
"I'm astonished and moved to see how she intimately engages and clearly depicts the lives of people living in a slum village next to the airport in Mumbai."
Cover of The Jewish War
The Jewish War
Josephus · Buy on Amazon
""The Jewish War," written by Josephus, Jesus' near contemporary, who fought in the Jewish war against Rome, which he called "the greatest of all" wars."
Cover of Lives
Lives
Plutarch · Buy on Amazon
"The vivid anecdotes in Plutarch's "Lives.""
Cover of Meditations
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius · 180 · Buy on Amazon
"The "Meditations" of Marcus Aurelius."
Cover of I, Claudius
I, Claudius
Robert Graves · Buy on Amazon
"Some brilliant historical fiction — Robert Graves, "I, Claudius," and Marguerite Yourcenar, "The Memoirs of Hadrian.""
Memoirs of Hadrian
Marguerite Yourcenar · Buy on Amazon
"Some brilliant historical fiction — Robert Graves, "I, Claudius," and Marguerite Yourcenar, "The Memoirs of Hadrian.""
Cover of Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon
Toni Morrison · 1977 · Buy on Amazon
"Books I love talking about with anyone — Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon.""
Cover of Man's Search for Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl · 1946 · Buy on Amazon
"Books I love talking about with anyone — Viktor Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning.""
Cover of The Varieties of Religious Experience
The Varieties of Religious Experience
William James · 1902 · Buy on Amazon
"William James, "The Varieties of Religious Experience" — for anyone curious about the emotional power of religious experience. I love this book!"
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
L. Frank Baum · Buy on Amazon
""The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," which plunged me into another world, terrifying and glorious, where I could roam on my own."
Essential Pleasures
Robert Pinsky · Buy on Amazon
"Robert Pinsky's anthology, "Essential Pleasures," which these surely are!"

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