This I Believe II

Starred review from July 28, 2008
Allison and Gediman's newest omnibus highlights 75 more essays from the archives of the successful NPR program, a contemporary version of Edward Murrow's classic radio show. Culled from writers both legendary and previously unfamiliar, each essayist presents what he or she believes in 500 words. From Robin Baudier's tract on “Strange Blessings,” detailing her experience living in her parents' FEMA trailer after the devastation of Katrina, to Michelle Gardner-Quinn's credo for “upholding reverence for all life” (Quinn was tragically murdered after completing this essay) to Kim Phuc's essay on “Forgiveness,” borne of her experience as that “girl in the picture” running naked, napalm-burnt on a road near Saigon, each micro-essay stuns with its singular beauty, lucidity and humility. Icons like Helen Prejean, Studs Terkel and Elie Wiesel find estimable company in heretofore unknown writers who distill their individual truths with affecting sincerity and admirable aptitude.

October 1, 2008
In the second collection derived from the extraordinarily popular and influential National Public Radio program This I Believe, pithy, personal, and stealthily affecting essays grapple with lifes big questions from myriad perspectives and with refreshingly positive energy. Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk tells us to do what we love. James Loney, a peace activist held hostage in Iraq, believes that there are many ways we can hold one another captive. Nature writer David Gessner believes in wildness. Readers will also discover what invaluable life lesson neurobiologist Jimmy Liao learned from studying fish in turbulent waters, why Susan Cooke Kittredge believes in mending, and what strange blessings a woman whose family lost their home to Katrina gleaned. Other voices include war veterans, a Muslim immigrant, and a poet who became addicted to crack. Beauty, duty, forgiveness, and remembranceall are considered in 75 earnest and revealing credos, which, as astute series editor Allison observes, are not sermons but, rather, the results of soul-searching in the wake of anguished experiences. Infused with gratitude and hope, these declarations are at once grounding and uplifting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)