The Book of the People: How To Read the Bible

Recognizing the Bible's great influence on literature and culture generally, prolific fiction and nonfiction author Wilson (fellow, Royal Soc. of Literature; Victoria: A Life) offers a reflection on the text's impact on his own life as well as the various ways in which people have "read" the Bible, including Michelangelo's depiction on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the actions of Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. Wilson rejects the fundamentalism of believers and atheists alike, saying that both groups misread the scriptures and thus fail to appreciate their richness. Dismissing the search for the historical Jesus, which Wilson at one time engaged in, the author concentrates on the words of the Bible itself, arguing that the content must be consumed imaginatively. His ideas are in the tradition of Robert Alter (The Five Books of Moses) and Frank Kermode's (coauthor with Alter, The Literary Guide to the Bible), who view the books of the Bible as great storytelling while respecting their religious elements.