Now in paperback -- the book that caused a religious and critically acclaimed stir. Publishers Weekly called it "the most original and insightful spiritual writing to come out of America since Jack Kerouac first hit the road." The Buffalo News hailed it as "one of the most eccentric and fascinating books of the year." O, The Oprah Magazine said "This collection proves that fear and trembling are human, but a sense of humor is divine."Peter Manseau and Jeff Sharlet have created a work of calling that is as odd, moving, and inspiring as the people and the scriptures they encountered. Whether it is Manseau and Sharlet telling their "psalms" from outposts as unexpected as a strip club or a cattle-auction barn, Peter Trachtenberg unraveling the Gordian logic of Job via the Borscht Belt, Rick Moody finding a modern-day Jonah in Queens, or Haven Kimmel shocking and thrilling us with her Revelation, what emerges is not an attack on religion, but a quizzical, fascinating look at it from the inside. Killing the Buddha is a positively riveting look at the facets of true belief.

CONTENTSMortal, eat this scroll!by Peter Manseau & Jeff SharletThe Books of ScriptureBy A. L. Kennedy, Francine Prose, Michael Lesy, lê thi diem thúy, April Reynolds, Peter Trachtenberg, Darcey Steinke, Charles Bowden, Melvin Jules Bukiet, Eileen Myles, Rick Moody, Randall Kenan, and Haven KimmelGenesisExodusLeviticusRuthSamuelJobSong of SongsIsaiahEzekielDanielJonahGospelRevelationThe Book of Psalmsby Peter Manseau & Jeff SharletNew York, New YorkPoolesville, MarylandHenderson, North CarolinaMyrtle Beach, South CarolinaBroward County, FloridaAn Orange Grove, Somewhere in FloridaNashville, TennesseeMount Vernon, TexasCrestone, ColoradoEast L.A., CaliforniaUnincorporated Territory, OklahomaHeartland, KansasGeneva, IllinoisAcknowledgmentsContributorsA conversation with the authorsA guide to Scripture in Killing the Buddha