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Yesterday, the first African American President of the United States was sworn in.  It seems fitting, then, that I should recommend his memoir The Audacity of Hope.  Obama always has a way with words and his memoir is no exception.  Though the material is raw and emotional, the story itself is tightly woven. 

This book is a learning experience, an opportunity to view the world from a unique perspective.  while we may not be able to fully understand that perspective, we can at least learn some sense of empathy for the experiences that created it.

This week’s book recommendation is a bit unusual.  It isn’t precisely literary or precisely feminist or precisely genre or precisely anything at all.  Shadowed Glass by J. Rosemary Moss is the story of a modern woman who finds herself transported to the side of the Apostle Paul.  That in itself is unique, but the story goes forward to explore homosexuality in religious context.  Moss’s background in both religion and gay rights creates a seamless story that is what all great externalist literature is–entertaining and thought-provoking.

For the first book recommendation of the year, we turn our attention to poetry.  The book I’m recommending isn’t a book of poems, but rather a book exploring poetry.  Dana Goia’s Can Poetry Matter? includes interesting ideas about what makes a good poem and what poets should be striving for when they write. 

I first came across this book several months before we founded The Externalist.  While many of Goia’s ideas are similar to ours, there are also some significant differences.  That is how conversation begins–through differences, not similarities–so it seems an especially appropriate book recommendation. 

We’re still looking for readers who would like to recommend a book or books.  To send your recommendation, send us a paragraph or two that includes the title, the author, why you recommend it, and how it relates to externalist principles.  Send all in the body of an email to editor@theexternalist.com. Sorry–we do not accept book recommendations written by the author of the recommended book.  If you’re the author and are convinced that we should recommend it, send me an email requesting instructions for sending a review copy.