GOD AT THE RITZ: A Priest-Physicist Talks About Science, Sex, Politics and Religion

Monsignor Albacete, who holds degrees in both theology and physics, speaks eloquently—and sometimes iconoclastically—about science, religion, and truth claims in this collection of brief related essays. The title was inspired by an experience he had in 1997, when he was asked to speak to a group of reporters at a Ritz-Carlton Hotel in California. As the reporters peppered him with metaphysical questions, Albacete realized he had the same doubts and inquiries they did. Those questions drive this book: Why do we have organized religion? Can science and faith be reconciled? Why do people suffer? The book has a generous dose of edgy humor; whether he is drawing on Bill Cosby, Monty Python, or a New Yorker cartoon, Albacete isn't afraid to tackle sacred cows. He also draws on such thinkers as Freud, Marx, Nietzsche, Elie Wiesel, and Flannery O'Connor and offers some profound ruminations on tolerance. This far-flung and bohemian treatise makes for highly original reading. (Oct.)