His first book, i may be some time, won the writers guild award for best nonfiction book of 1996, the banff mountain book prize, and a somerset maugham award. This interview may not be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the holder. The section that describes christs betrayal, suffering, and death is an especially powerful and poignant potrayal of various aspects of what christs work achieved. Francis spufford books list of books by author francis spufford. Spufford comes across as serious and engaging and sympathetic. Golden hill is a historical novel about the 18th century which also harks back to the glorious dogs breakfast that was the novel at its 18thcentury beginning, when it could mix up adventure with serious themes, tragedy with farce, low pleasures with i hope high ambition. Its set in the very small colonial town of new york. Francis spufford is gloriously unapologetic the american. Francis spuffords new book, unapologetic, is much more personal and polemical than anything he has written before.
Why, despite everything, christianity can still make surprising emotional sense main by francis spufford isbn. Within minutes of deboarding from the brig henrietta in new york harbor, anno domini 1746, richard smith seems to attract trouble. Francis spufford introduces his novel, red plenty unless otherwise stated, this interview was conducted at the time the book was first published, and is reproduced with permission of the publisher. It came out in the uk in 2010 and it has just been published in a new us edition.
He studied english literature at trinity hall, cambridge, gaining a ba in 1985 career. Oct 24, 20 francis spuffords books cover a wide variety of subjects, from polar exploration to his childhood reading to a blend of fiction and nonfiction about soviet russia in red plenty, which dwight garner named one of his 10 favorite books of 2012. Why, despite everything, christianity can still make surprising emotional sense, by francis spufford. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over. I read walter scott to myself in my pathetic imitation of a borderscots accent. First the 24yearold londoner presents a local merchant named lovell with a bill demanding 1,000 pounds sterling. Francis spuffords unapologetic is a wonderfully pugnacious defense o. A way with words by adam trambley the cathedral book store. Unapologetic by francis spufford, 9780571225224, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. He laughed, and reconsidered toning down his bravado, but only slightly. Unapologetic is solid and filling and ethereal and freewheeling all at once. Francis spufford books list of books by author francis. Smith, a young englishman who shows up with a note saying he is owed a thousand pounds.
His first book, i may be some time, won the writers guild award for best nonfiction book of 1996, the banff mountain book prize and a somerset maugham award. With unrelenting passion and honesty throughout, this book successfully. Why, despite everything, christianity can still make surprising emotional sense francis spufford. There is a high fourletter quotient throughout unapologetic, a symptom of the prose being pitched to sound young. A topic not generally taught in seminary, but vital for pastors who wear many hats as preachers, pastoral caregivers, and administrative leaders. Thats why its interesting to watch spufford walk uphill and choose a rather unambitious goal for his book. The following is an edited transcript of our conversation. The crack in everything spufford defines for modern readers christian notions of sin, evil, guilt, and judgment. An interview with francis spufford commonweal magazine. Golden hill, 2016 won the costa book award for a first novel, 3, the desmond elliott prize 4, the new york city book award of the new york society library, and the ondaatje prize. Jun 28, 2017 hes written what still stands as the best account of the strange, powerful, and dangerous love felt by the english for arctic exploration 1999s i may be some time. Sep 03, 2012 spufford comes across as serious and engaging and sympathetic. Spufford is best known for his admirable career in nonfiction, including as the writer of the punchy and pithy unapologetic, a very modern defence of christianity, and i may be some.
Why, despite everything, christianity can still make surprising emotional sense by francis spufford in this wonderfully combative memoir, francis spufford pulls no punches about the. Explore books by francis spufford with our selection at. He has been longlisted or shortlisted for prizes in. Unapologetic is a book for believers who are fed up with being patronized, for nonbelievers curious about how faith can possibly work in the twentyfirst century, and for anyone who feels there is something indefinably wrong, literalistic, antiimaginative and intolerant about the way the atheist case is now being made. Alan jacobs posts a passage from unapologetic that better explains. Everyone wants power and everyone is in a constant duplicitous game to gain more power at the expense of others, according to greene, a screenwriter and former editor at esquire elffers, a book packager, designed the volume, with its attractive marginalia. Francis spuffords books cover a wide variety of subjects, from polar exploration to his childhood reading to a blend of fiction and nonfiction about soviet russia in red plenty, which dwight garner named one of his 10 favorite books of 2012. Spufford is an amused and amusing observer of human beings, and it is a pleasure to be in his company.
Francis spufford pens unauthorised narnia novel november 2017 books that made me francis spufford. Sin is the human tendency, the human propensity, to fuck. Well, not defense of doctrine, exactly, but defense the root meaning of apologia of christian emotions and their grownup dignity. Jul 27, 2012 francis spuffords new book, unapologetic, is much more personal and polemical than anything he has written before. A practicing christian whose wife is a parish priest, spufford revisits the reasons for writing his book unapologetic, in which he found himself mounting a defense of imagination as such.
Aug 02, 2012 what a wonderful world we live in where a book like francis spuffords red plenty can be published. A highly personaland unconventionaldefense of belief in christian doctrine. His second, the child that books built, gave neil gaiman. Spuffords appetite for honesty is a lot greater than his desire for comfort, sending his outlook careening headlong into depressing territory at times. Professor francis spufford goldsmiths, university of london. An essayist searching for alternate worlds the new york times. The brilliance of unapologetic is in francis spufford s writing style and the fresh approach he takes to creating space for christianity to thrive in contemporary society. Spufford adds to the diversity of his bibliography, this time mounting an impassioned argument for, as the subtitle. Francis spufford is such a prolific and wellrespected writer that its hard to believe that golden hill, his lively historical novel set in 18thcentury new york, is his first work of fiction. Nov 22, 2017 a practicing christian whose wife is a parish priest, spufford revisits the reasons for writing his book unapologetic, in which he found himself mounting a defense of imagination as such. In 2007 he was elected a fellow of the royal society of literature. It was followed by the child that books built, backroom boys, and most recently, red plenty. We personally assess every book s quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures. He is the son of the late social historian professor margaret spufford 19352014 and the late economic historian professor peter spufford 19342017.
An anthology of the finest writing on the arctic and the antarctic. Sep 18, 2012 the first session of the st pauls forum autumn series the case for god held under the dome of st pauls cathedral. Jun 27, 2017 spufford has written this book, he notes in an afterword, as a kind of homage to rambling and often comic novels like sarah fieldings the adventures of david simple 1744 and her sibling. What a wonderful world we live in where a book like francis spuffords red plenty can be published. Im the king of my books, ill have you know, he said with amiable hauteur. Ice and the english imagination, was awarded the writers guild award for best nonfiction book of 1996 and a somerset maugham award. An essayist searching for alternate worlds the new york.
Oct 15, 20 francis spufford s unapologetic is a wonderfully pugnacious defense of christianity. This sparkling first novel sends a young man through a gantlet of troubles and amusements in 18thcentury manhattan. Refuting critics such as richard dawkins, sam harris, and the new atheist crowd, spufford, a former atheist and fellow of the royal society of literature, argues that christianity is recognizable, drawing on the deep and deeply ordinary vocabulary of human feeling, satisfying those who. In unapologetic, i wanted to find a way to show non. Theres more life and variety in a single page of francis spuffords prose than there is in many fulllength books. After more than 20 years dealing with nonfiction subjects as diverse as polar exploration, the soviet economy and childrens literature, francis spufford has written a novel. Spufford knows how to write, but he also teaches writing for a living, and it shows. July 10, 2017 francis spuffords historical novel is set in 1746 lower manhattan, a world of spies, thieves, card sharks and crooked bankers. It is simply an apologetic on the emotional level rather than the intellectual level. Francis spuffords unapologetic is a wonderfully pugnacious defense of.
Unapologetic, 2012, translated into dutch as dit is geen verdediging, 20, into spanish as impenitente and german as heilige unvernunft. The expectations surrounding spuffords exploration of the fiction arena have always been strong primarily because the author has written so widely, producing literary anthologies on. Why, despite everything, christianity can still make surprising emotional sense, and its written by francis spufford, a professor in london. Unapologetic, has been translated into three languages. Francis spuffords unapologetic is a wonderfully pugnacious defense of christianity. Francis spuffords first book, i may be some time, won the writers guild award for best nonfiction book of 1996, the banff mountain book prize and a somerset. Buy unapologetic by francis spufford with free delivery. Francis spuffords first book, i may be some time, won the writers guild award for best nonfiction book of 1996, the banff mountain book prize and a somerset maugham award. Francis spufford, a former sunday times young writer of the year 1997, has edited two acclaimed literary anthologies and a collection of essays about the history of technology. Francis spuffords book unapologetic is published in the us by harperone. Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices.
Spufford s appetite for honesty is a lot greater than his desire for comfort, sending his outlook careening headlong into depressing territory at times. Unapologetic is exactly what those whove followed spuffords career might have suspected it would be. That interview clip really makes me want to buy this book. Unapologetic is a book for believers who are fed up with being patronized. A church champion scores in his grasp of human frailty. See all books authored by francis spufford, including golden hill, and unapologetic.
Unapologetic by francis spufford overdrive rakuten. Spufford has written this book, he notes in an afterword, as a kind of homage to rambling and often comic novels like sarah fieldings the adventures of david simple 1744 and her sibling. Unapologetic by francis spufford, 9780571225224, download free ebooks, download free pdf epub ebook. Dec 22, 2016 despite what francis spufford claims, unapologetic is an apologetic work. Despite its title, unapologetic by francis spufford, is, in part, an apologia, a defense, of christianity and the church, arguing not from first principles of science and logic, but from emotion and experience. He tells us that he did no research for the book and wrote at. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Oct 15, 20 the authors have created a sort of anti book of virtues in this encyclopedic compendium of the ways and means of power. Spuffords new book is an argument for why christianity can still make surprising emotional sense. In his new book, francis spufford has made a significant contribution to the genre. His third book, backroom boys, was called a beautifully written book by the. The first session of the st pauls forum autumn series the case for god held under the dome of st pauls cathedral. Unapologetic is a brief, witty, personal, sharptongued defence of. Despite what francis spufford claims, unapologetic is an apologetic work.
Refuting critics such as richard dawkins, sam harris, and the new atheist crowd, spufford, a former atheist and fellow of the royal society of literature, argues that christianity is recognizable, drawing on the deep and deeply ordinary vocabulary of human feeling, satisfying those who believe in it by offering a ruthlessly realistic account of the grownup dignity of christian experience. Why, despite everything, christianity can still make surprising emotional sense. Francis spufford s unapologetic is a wonderfully pugnacious defense of christianity. Refuting critics such as richard dawkins, sam harris, and the new atheist crowd, spufford, a former atheist and fellow of the royal society of literature, argues that christianity is recognizable, drawing on the deep and deeply ordinary vocabulary of human feeling, satisfying those who believe in it by. Unique because spuffords context is postchristian england, and he is fully aware that he.
Oct 23, 2012 there is a high fourletter quotient throughout unapologetic, a symptom of the prose being pitched to sound young. Why, despite everything, christianity can still make surprising emotional sense, and more on. His second book, the child that books built was described as witty, compelling and elegant by the new statesman. The book, which looked at sputnik and the soviet union, blends historical facts with fiction in a manner that francis spufford hadnt experimented with before.
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