Let me start by saying what this book is not. The Great Agnostic by Susan Jacoby is not a biography of Robert Ingersoll. It is, rather, an argument for restoring Ingersoll to a respected place... Read More

If ever there were a day deserving to be called—secularly—a “day of reckoning,” this would be the day for Owen Ross, the forty-seven-year-old protagonist of Jon Mills’ provocative first novel, When God Wept. For it... Read More

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