Paradise Now - by Jay Parini (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

An acclaimed, award-winning, and best-selling poet, novelist, and critic turns his poetic and literary eye to the most famous prayer in human history.

For Christians, the Lord's Prayer stands at the heart of both belief and practice. It offers a brief yet profound window into Jesus at prayer, and it continues to guide those who follow in his way. In this close, meditative, and far-reaching reading--drawn from the slightly different versions found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke--Parini brings to bear his formidable gifts as poet, critic, and teacher.

Moving line by line, Parini unpacks the depth and resonance of this fabled prayer, illuminating its layers of meaning and the many ways it reveals the nature of God. In doing so, he considers what it truly means to live the Lord's Prayer: to lean into its words, inhabit them, and allow them to shape one's character and daily practice of faith and reconciliation.

Parini--whose distinguished career has been recognized with major honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship--draws on his mastery as poet, critic, and novelist to emphasize the prayer's lived dimension. He helps readers experience it not simply as a sacred text, but as a transformative way of being.

Praise for Jay Parini

THE PATCH BOYS
"Subtly paced narrative." -- The New York Times Book Review
"Dazzling." -- Los Angeles Times
"A beautifully crafted coming-of-age novel." -- Library Journal

THE LAST STATION
The New York Times Notable Book of the Year - Basis for the Oscar-nominated film
"An absorbing account of Tolstoy's last year." -- Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"One of the best historical novels of the last twenty years." -- Gore Vidal
"A fine novel." -- Rowan Williams

BENJAMIN'S CROSSING
The New York Times Notable Book
"An elegant novel about the paradoxical critic Walter Benjamin." -- The New York Times Book Review

ROBERT FROST: A LIFE
"A pleasure to read... brings Frost sharply into focus." -- The New York Times
"Humanizing and illuminating." -- The Miami Herald

ONE MATCHLESS TIME: A LIFE OF WILLIAM FAULKNER
"A vivid tribute." -- J.M. Coetzee
"A landmark biography." -- Library Journal (starred)
"Spellbinding... enthralling." -- Houston Chronicle / Seattle Times

WHY POETRY MATTERS
"Celebrates poetry and life itself." -- Samuel Pickering
"Concise, cogent, and convincing." -- J.D. McClatchy

JESUS: THE HUMAN FACE OF GOD
Amazon Best Book of the Month
"Capacious and inspiring." -- The Seattle Times
"A warm, bold, well-written biography." -- The Huffington Post
"Well informed and deeply personal." -- The Boston Globe

THE PASSAGES OF H.M.
"A thoughtful re-imagining." -- The Washington Post
"Deeply absorbing... adds to Melville's presence." -- Los Angeles Times

BORGES AND ME
"A jewel of a book--funny, clever, moving." -- Ian McEwan
"Full of energy and humor." -- Ann Beattie
"Brings Borges sharply to life." -- The New York Times
"A classic comic-philosophical road story." -- The Wall Street Journal

Review Quotes

"Drawing on his own meditative experiences with the Lord's Prayer and on a lifetime of intense engagement with key works of world literature and their authors, Jay Parini opens up new ways for his readers to experience the transformative power of that simple prayer, which is no less than a summary of Jesus's entire way of life. To be read and savored."

-- "Miroslav Volf, professor of theology at Yale University and author of The Cost of Ambition and co-author of Life Worth Living"

"Jay Parini deftly navigates a vast array of theologians, philosophers, writers, aiming to create what he calls 'a field of resonance.' And that's exactly how I experienced his mediation on the Lord's Prayer. Paradise Now is a kind of casual systematic theology, a book of finely layered associations."

-- "Reverend Sarah Horton, author of A Child's Guide to the Holy Eucharist"

"Reading and meditating on Jay Parini's brilliant parsing of the Lord's Prayer has been for me a truly transformative experience. Here is a prayer I have prayed daily for over eight decades, and, still, I am amazed at how much more there is to these words--as this poet, novelist and teacher gently leads us--to what Jesus invites us to pray as we invoke our heavenly father to guide us and abide with us, like nothing else in this world can."

-- "Paul Mariani, author of Thirty Days: On Retreat with the Exercises of St. Ignatius"

"Wise, reverent, inviting, learned, and biblically astute, Jay Parini is the ideal interpreter of the rich complexities at the heart of the resonant prayer that Jesus taught us."

-- "Ron Hansen, author of Marietta in Ecstasy"

"Paradise Now is both inspiring and inspired! Jay Parini leads us gently through the essential prayer of Christianity, writing with a keen ear for nuance and a lovely eye for details. Grace and truth live in these pages."

-- "Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation, author of New York Times bestseller The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom For an Age of Outrage"