Eighth Day Books: Difference between revisions
m Added {{multiple issues}} with parameters advert, essay-like, external links, fansite, notability, npov, peacock, tone and weasel, {{expert}} and {{pov-check}} tags to article us |
No edit summary |
||
Line 20: | Line 20: | ||
== Influence == |
== Influence == |
||
Eighth Day Books is |
Eighth Day Books is well-known within Christian intellectual and artistic circles, having been called by the writer Harold Fickett "surely the most idealistic (and one of the best) bookstores in America" <ref>Fickett, Harold. The Living Christ: The Extraordinary Lives of Today's Spiritual Heroes. New York: Doubleday, 2002, p. 206</ref>. Former Dallas Morning News columnist and religion author [[Rod Dreher]] has written that Eighth Day Books is "the best bookstore in the world"<ref>Dreher, Rod. Crunchy Con Blog. "The Best Bookstore in the World." 11/7/2008. http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/11/the-best-bookstore-in-the-worl.html</ref> and the "Garden of Eden for Christian intellectuals–Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox–interested in the Permanent Things"<ref>National Review Online. "NRO Symposium: 2004 Gift-Giving Guide." 11/24/2004. http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/212981/2004-gift-giving-guide/nro-symposium</ref>. [[Image Journal]], which invites Eighth Day Books to host a book table at its Glen Workshop each year, has dubbed Eighth Day Books the "Miracle of Wichita"<ref>Image Update #57, 9/1/2004. http://imagejournal.org/imageupdate/57_040901.htm</ref> and "Heaven's Bookstore"<ref>Image Update #197, 4/14/2010. http://imagejournal.org/imageupdate/192_100414.html</ref>. Other conferences at which Eighth Day Books' traveling book table is a regular fixture include Calvin College's Festival of Faith and Writing<ref>http://www.calvin.edu/academic/engl/festival/conference/exhibitors.php</ref>, Trinity Arts Conference in Dallas, Texas<ref>http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennisimmons/3636330946/</ref>, Notre Dame's Center for Ethics and Culture Fall Conference<ref>http://herald.cornerstone.edu/2010/11/23/stevens-takes-students-to-notre-dame-conference/</ref>, Baylor University's Symposium on Faith and Culture<ref>http://www.tgdarkly.com/blog/?p=467</ref>, and The CIRCE Institute<ref>http://www.circeconference.com/</ref>. |
||
== Catalog == |
== Catalog == |
Revision as of 04:32, 27 December 2010
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
No issues specified. Please specify issues, or remove this template. |
This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article.(December 2010) |
An editor has nominated this article for deletion. You are welcome to participate in the deletion discussion, which will decide whether or not to retain it. |
Eighth Day Books is an independent bookstore founded in 1988 and located in Wichita, Kansas known for its curated focus on books that are classics of their genres or else modern or contemporary works linked to the intellectual, artistic, and religious traditions of East and West.
History
Farha has written on the notion of bookselling as a vocation, citing a personal tragedy as the turning point in his life that led him to devote his life to the trade.[1] The name of the store is drawn from the Patristic notion of the Eighth Day, referring literally to Sunday, and metaphorically to the eternal "day" of resurrection.
Philosophy
According to their website, Eighth Day "offer[s] an eccentric community of books based on this organizing principle: if a book—be it literary, scientific, historical, or theological—sheds light on ultimate questions in an excellent way, then it's a worthy candidate for inclusion in our catalog."[2] The writer Lauren Winner reports that Farha defines the store's specialty as "the 'lasting' books...perennially important books."[3] In addition, they are known for their collection of religious—especially but not exclusively Christian—texts, particularly Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox works. Farha, who is Antiochian Orthodox, has summarized his vision for the bookstore as "about the unbreakable connections between all things that are true and good and beautiful. We'll live and die for Fr. Schmemann's insistence that you can't compartmentalize reality — separating things into 'religious' and 'secular, not religious.' We believe that doing so is a denial of God's 'very good' creation."[4]
Eighth Day Press
To date, Eighth Day Press has published seven books, focused primarily on works exploring or emanating from Catholic and Orthodox spirituality.[5] The Press publishes the two most significant works of German writer Max Picard, Flight From God and The World of Silence; Recovered Body, a collection of poetry by Scott Cairns; Discerning the Mystery: An Essay on the Nature of Theology, by Andrew Louth; Clinging:The Experience of Prayer, by Emilie Griffin; Orthodox Spirituality and the Philokalia, by Placide Deseille; and The Feast of Friendship, by Fr. Paul O'Callaghan.
Influence
Eighth Day Books is well-known within Christian intellectual and artistic circles, having been called by the writer Harold Fickett "surely the most idealistic (and one of the best) bookstores in America" [6]. Former Dallas Morning News columnist and religion author Rod Dreher has written that Eighth Day Books is "the best bookstore in the world"[7] and the "Garden of Eden for Christian intellectuals–Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox–interested in the Permanent Things"[8]. Image Journal, which invites Eighth Day Books to host a book table at its Glen Workshop each year, has dubbed Eighth Day Books the "Miracle of Wichita"[9] and "Heaven's Bookstore"[10]. Other conferences at which Eighth Day Books' traveling book table is a regular fixture include Calvin College's Festival of Faith and Writing[11], Trinity Arts Conference in Dallas, Texas[12], Notre Dame's Center for Ethics and Culture Fall Conference[13], Baylor University's Symposium on Faith and Culture[14], and The CIRCE Institute[15].
Catalog
From its inception, Eighth Day Books has published an annual catalog following the model made famous by A Common Reader, annotating each book with intimate, often whimsical, reviews.[16]. Writer, theologian and activist Jim Forest, in a blog entry titled "the vocational bookseller," singles out the book descriptions written for the catalog in saying "I know of no book shop so likely to have books -- new and used -- of special interest to Orthodox or Catholic Christians."[17]. Eric Scheske, a lawyer and writer who keeps the noted Daily Eudemo blog says, "Their annual catalog isn’t just a catalog: it’s a piece of literature. Anyone who loves books and wisdom as much as these folks, anyone who passes along excellent reading advice by the shelf-load like these folks, merits patronage"[18]. James Kushiner, Executive Editor of Touchstone Magazine has also singled out the writing of Eighth Day's catalog as worthy of mention, saying it's "the most fun I've had reading a catalog in a while"[19].
Notes
- ^ Farha, Warren. Lecture on Vocation
- ^ About Us. www.eighthdaybooks.com
- ^ Winner, Lauren Book Notes: A Visit to Eighth Day Books
- ^ Farha, Warren. Lecture on Vocation
- ^ Hilliard, Juli Cragg. Publishers Weekly. [http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20020513/19085-eastern-orthodox-books-on-the-rise-.html "Eastern Orthodox Books on the Rise," April 13, 2002
- ^ Fickett, Harold. The Living Christ: The Extraordinary Lives of Today's Spiritual Heroes. New York: Doubleday, 2002, p. 206
- ^ Dreher, Rod. Crunchy Con Blog. "The Best Bookstore in the World." 11/7/2008. http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/11/the-best-bookstore-in-the-worl.html
- ^ National Review Online. "NRO Symposium: 2004 Gift-Giving Guide." 11/24/2004. http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/212981/2004-gift-giving-guide/nro-symposium
- ^ Image Update #57, 9/1/2004. http://imagejournal.org/imageupdate/57_040901.htm
- ^ Image Update #197, 4/14/2010. http://imagejournal.org/imageupdate/192_100414.html
- ^ http://www.calvin.edu/academic/engl/festival/conference/exhibitors.php
- ^ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennisimmons/3636330946/
- ^ http://herald.cornerstone.edu/2010/11/23/stevens-takes-students-to-notre-dame-conference/
- ^ http://www.tgdarkly.com/blog/?p=467
- ^ http://www.circeconference.com/
- ^ Shapera, Todd (1999-07-11). "Personal Missions Fuel Small Publishers". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
- ^ Forest, Jim. On Pilgrimage Blog. 10/26/2010. http://jimandnancyonpilgrimage.blogspot.com/2010/10/vocational-book-seller.html
- ^ Scheske, Eric. The Daily Eudomon. 5/27/2008. http://www.ericscheske.com/blog/?p=6072
- ^ Mere Comments Blog. 12/28/2007. http://merecomments.typepad.com/merecomments/2007/12/eighth-day-touc.html