THE BEST SPIRITUAL WRITING 2002

Zaleski's fifth annual collection of the best spiritual writing achieves something memorable and fresh in a year marked by an upsurge in the sheer quantity of spiritual writing. A number of the essays of course deal with last autumn's terrorist attacks; Vincent Druding's "Ground Zero: A Journal" chronicles the 24-year-old author's first day at work in downtown Manhattan. The day was September 11, and he was coming out of the subway when the World Trade Center was hit. Other essays don't address September 11 specifically, but seem particularly timely in its aftermath: Joseph Epstein analyzes the spectrum of fear and courage in "What Are You Afraid Of?", and Amy Schwartz pays tribute to C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters in "Screwtape Instructs Scrapetooth," a skillful analysis of the banality of evil. As usual, Zaleski's collection is to be applauded for its diversity; there are contributions from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, secular and pan-Hindu perspectives, and various pieces tackle spirituality as it impacts the environment, relationships, politics, creativity and literature. Contributions have been culled from a panoply of periodicals and newspapers, from the tony (New Yorker and Vanity Fair) to the plebeian (there's even a selection from Sports Illustrated). There are some fascinating biographical essays, such as Bill McKibben's "The Muslim Gandhi" and Sarah Davidson's "The Making of an American Swami." Perhaps the wisest, most understated piece is Walter Wangerin's homage to his deceased father-in-law in "One Man on a Tractor Far Away." Fans of Zaleski's series will not be disappointed with the highly literary quality of this anthology. (Sept.)