Cover Reveal for Reading Black Books
It's time! Book cover and pre-order links are here.
Update: Reading Black Books got some awards love
Christianity Today 2023 Book Award Finalist (Culture & the Arts)
Midwest Book Review 2023 Gold Book Award Winner (Nonfiction - Religion/Philosophy)
—
Y’all.
The cover is here. Pre-order links are here. It’s really happening. I can hardly believe it. This cover is absolutely stunning. I’m honored to have these authors featured and to share my literary and theological readings of their timeless works.
Maybe you know African American literature inside and out. Or maybe you can’t identify even one face on the cover, but you know you’re supposed to read Baldwin and just never have. Either way, this is your book! I’ve written it to be a guide for the novice and a deeper dive for the familiar.
It’s close reading meets theological reflection in a way that I think and pray will be stimulating and engaging for Christians, the spiritually curious, and those who simply want another lens through which to think about these seminal texts.
Here’s the official book description:
Learning from Black voices means listening to more than snippets. It means attending to Black stories. Reading Black Books helps Christians hear and learn from enduring Black voices and stories as captured in classic African American literature.
Pastor and teacher Claude Atcho offers a theological approach to 10 seminal texts of 20th-century African American literature. Each chapter takes up a theological category for inquiry through a close literary reading and theological reflection on a primary literary text, from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Richard Wright's Native Son to Zora Neale Hurston's Moses, Man of the Mountain and James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain.
Reading Black Books helps readers of all backgrounds learn from the contours of Christian faith formed and forged by Black stories, and it spurs continued conversations about racial justice in the church. It demonstrates that reading about Black experience as shown in the literature of great African American writers can guide us toward sharper theological thinking and more faithful living.
Pre-Order Links
Pre-orders matter a great deal for first-time authors, so if you plan to buy the book eventually, bless your boy and go for it now.
Baker Book House has the book on sale 40% off with free shipping, which sounds like a good recipe for Christmas in May.
Hearts and Minds
Thanks for all the support! More to come soon!
Grace and peace,
Claude
A little late to the game here but I came across you and your book. I just purchased this and I am really looking forward to reading!