Apostle

Starred review from January 11, 2016
Bissell (The Disaster Artist) journeyed to the tombs of the apostles, finding some sticky with kisses and others bone-barren. His account of his travels is an excellent cornucopia of history, exegesis, travelogue, biography, analysis, corrective, and hilarity. Bissell, a scholar but not a believer, pairs some disciples (Philip and James) and adds one not of the original twelve (Paul) in this quirky and learned Christology. Each chapter covers an apostle’s life story and legend, comparisons of the apostle’s appearances throughout the Gospels, and places from Italy to India where relics beckon pilgrims. Bissell includes questions, definitions, traveler’s tales, and sprightly interviews with the pilgrims, translators, and docents he meets, and these bolster his Bible commentaries; his accounts are always grounded in his meetings with scholars and church fathers. Even if readers don’t care about the apostles, Bissell’s style is compelling on its own. His unforced humor is delightful, his wealth of research grounds this formidable apostolic project, and his crafty rhetoric and irresistible charm make it a must-read.

Starred review from February 1, 2016
A deep dive into the heart of the New Testament, crossing continents and cross-referencing texts. Bissell (Magic Hours: Essays on Creators and Creations, 2012, etc.) delivers an unusual work of Christological travel literature, visiting the alleged tombs of Jesus' disciples, supplementing his journey with close readings of Scripture and ancient church history. At the church sepulchers, which have become tourist attractions, the author met priestly defenders of the faith who make broad claims for the historic relevance of their sites, as well as the many alleged artifacts that go with it, whether it's the remains of Bartholomew in Rome or the bones of Peter in the Vatican. On the page, Bissell finds the Gospels to be a vast, crazy quilt on which every jot and tittle is suspect, from proper names to history, due to both the vagaries of oral tradition as well as the varying translations and competing agendas of copyists, scribes, and leaders. The author examines all these controversies in scholarly depth. Was there really a Judas? Was John actually the Beloved Disciple of history, or was that someone else? Was James actually the stepbrother of Jesus? Were the Gospels written as a reaction to the fact that the second coming did not immediately occur? As a long-lapsed Catholic, Bissell's driving concern is why people still believe, and his somewhat condescending answer is that they simply want to. "To explain the realness of that which we cannot see, we turn to stories left behind by evangelistic writers, working behind their complicated veils of anonymity," he writes. "The footprints they left behind lead us to places we long to be led." Bissell is by turns analytical and cynical, illuminating and, given his passion for splitting etymological hairs, occasionally dry. A rich, contentious, and challenging book.

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Starred review from March 15, 2016
Bissell, author and a contributor to Harper's and the New Yorker, takes on a formidable task: melding a travelogue with intensive biblical scholarship. From 2007 to 2010, he traveled to the tombs of the 12 Apostlesin Rome, Turkey, Jerusalem, even Indiahoping to make sense of whom these men really were. Or, more accurately, whom legend says they were. Bissell writes with a keen eye about his fellow pilgrims at the tombs: the young Evangelical who, despite his religion's tepid view of the saints, still goes to the resting place of Phillip and James; the Greek guide who can rattle off every fact about John as if they were, well, the gospel truth. But Bissell mostly uses these stops as jumping-off places for an erudite discussion of theology, biblical history, and competing religious theories. At times, the theological discussions turn dense, which makes them juxtapose uneasily with the travelogue portions of the book. Yet just when theology or history becomes too obscure, Bissell offers a startling insight or profound observation that immediately reengages the reader. It also helps that he is a beautiful stylist. On the tomb sites, he says, You feel gusts of anxious longing. This is no ordinary tourist trip through the Holy Land; rather, it's a thoughtful journey and should be savored.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2015

One might mistake this for a travel book, but that's not quite right. In actuality, Bissell (The Disaster Artist; Magic Hours) visits the tombs traditionally and historically associated with the 12 apostles in what might be more specifically categorized as a travelog of apostolic memory. By his own admission, Bissell is an unbelieving lapsed Catholic whose intent is to "explore the legendary encrustation upon twelve lives about which little is known and even less can be historically verified." The author captures early Christianity's unsteady beginnings and traces its successes through the mythology, theology, history, and politics that permeates the resting places of each of these men in an engaging narrative. His personal ruminations on the quirks and reverence of various faith traditions which now hold the secrets of these far-flung geographic sites are at times humorous, in other places less than reverential, even snarky. He concludes that it might be the power of story which supersedes the faith, an compelling thought to consider. VERDICT Well documented, with an extensive bibliography, this is a full-bodied read for the religiously curious. [See Prepub Alert, 9/28/15.]--Sandra Collins, Byzantine Catholic Seminary Lib., Pittsburgh

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2015

Rome Prize winner Bissell (The Disaster Artist) offers a historical account of the apostles for believers and nonbelievers alike. Amplified by visits to holy sites from Rome to Kyrgyzstan.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.