I perforce begin with a confession: I couldn’t finish Salman Rushdie’s two most notable novels, Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses. I don’t love magical realism generally—I hated García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude—and... Read More

When Katherine Stewart first saw a program called the “Good News Club” on the list of available after-school activities at her daughter’s public elementary school in Santa Barbara, California, she didn’t give it much thought,... Read More

With his book “Generation Atheist,” Dan Riley starts to fill a large gap in atheist literature.  While many books give the logic, history or the philosophy of atheism and humanism, personal stories, so prevalent in... Read More

Penn Jillette, the resonant half of the magic duo Penn & Teller, is the master of meander. A carny in love with the carnival, he wants to make damn sure you see every glittery exhibit... Read More

Dear reader, this is your lucky day! I can teach you how to steal a watch, cheat at cards, read minds, and astonish friends and strangers. Actually, I can’t teach you any of those things—but... Read More

A long time ago I used to be a Roman Catholic, and in those days we talked a lot about tests of faith. They happened when you were confronted with facts that clearly challenged the... Read More

In his study of the psychological damage wrought by World War II, historian Paul Fussell details a soldier’s view of death in combat as a “slowly dawning and dreadful realization” that begins with the rationalization:... Read More