The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People

by Cathleen Falsani

Book Overview

"This sensitive spiritual portrait of popular culture evokes, in thought provoking fashion, the vibrant and highly individualized nature of contemporary faith. "- The Christian Science Monitor It goes without saying that spirituality now plays an enormous role in the United States. But while this may be a nation of believers, it's not of one belief, but of many. To shape a candid picture of modern faith, the popularChicago Sun-Timesreligion writer...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374530920
• ISBN13: 9780374530921
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 271 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.6" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Fantastic book---inspiring, insightful, honest

Whatever your spiritual bent (or even if you are bent about spirituality), this wonderful work is valuable in its wide-ranging subjects, as well as the respect, curiosity and non-judgmental way in which Cathleen Falsani shares these 30-plus people's stories. There are numerous gems in here...Sandra Bernhardt is a riot---and truly fascinating. Leading off with Bono was a good choice---it hooked me into the next one, and the next one. With more room than her customary newspaper space, Falsani allows the reader into the setting...how an individual carries himself or herself, little moments that reveal so much. The essay on Hugh Hefner was beautifully done, with sparkling moments, including the one when Hef discovered he was not toe-to-toe with a stereotypical fire-and-brimstone Christian, but an intelligent, thoughtful person yearning to understand what makes others tick, on a spiritual level, and its impact on their public works and whatever remains of their private lives. Perhaps more than anything else about Falsani, I admire her courageous honesty. When Jerry Falwell died a few months ago, in her Chicago Sun-Times column she admitted that her first reaction to the news was something along the lines of "Good!" She then goes on to explore why that was, and delve into more of her thoughts on Falwell's legacy. Like Falsani, I am Christian, and like Falsani, that happened to my own initial (but not overall, I should note) response to news of Falwell's death. But you need not be Christian, or of any particular faith, to benefit from reading The God Factor. As Falsani probes people about such a significant aspect of their lives, any reader paying even a bit of attention can gain important insights into their own choices, the common ground that so many of us share as well as the many differences that go a long way toward making life so interesting.

Now the rest of you can enjoy Cathleen Falsani's writing

By way of disclosure, I have never met Ms. Falsani in person, but we have corresponded via email on various issues. Now-on with the review! One of the joys for people living in Chicago is the vibrant writing found in the city's newspapers. Cathleen Falsani is on the religion beat for the Chicago SunTimes and she brings a new and fresh and dare I say "fun" perspective to writing about religion. She does the same in the "God Factor". Her style of listening and careful questioning brings out unexpected insights from people you might be surprised to find out even think about issues of faith. Originally, I was going to give this book only four stars. I wish she had been a bit more challenging of some of the answers to her questions. In her shoes, I would have gagged on some of the replies given by interviewees. However, that's not her style and that's why Falsani could bring us a book as good as this. In constrast, I will only bequeath book reviews to posterity. If your view of religion extends beyond the stained glass stereotypes, Falsani is going to be one of your favorite reads.

For all those who believe in good books

For all those who like a good page-turner and have a basic curiosity in what famous people are really like, this is a fascinating read. Falsani just gets people. She has a way of bringing all the important details to life. You come away from this book knowing something intimate about these people you've otherwise studied from a distance. She gets them to open up about big things - their faith or lack of faith, and how they answer big questions - but there's even more to it. She has real conversations with them. Billy Corgan is smarter than you thought. Sandra Bernhard is sweeter than you thought. David Lynch is stranger than you thought (yes - it's true. STRANGER than you thought!) and Hugh Hefner is surprisingly shy, really down to earth once he starts talking about his favorite movies. Reading this book is like sitting in a coffeeshop and eavesdropping on a really good conversation at the table next to you. You'll finish reading and want to pass on so you have someone to talk about it with.

Cathleen Falsani can talk to ANYONE

It seems that reporter (and theologian, and pop culture maven) Cathleen Falsani can put anyone at their ease--and simultaneously provoke them into saying the most unusual and evocative statements I've heard these most public figures ever say. "The God Factor" is an incredible walk through a varied landscape--rappers, rockers, moguls, and senators--speaking candidly not just about "God" with a capital G but about morality, spirituality, and their place in the world. At a time when religion makes big bucks and guides presidents, and Americans continue to fight over what, exactly, "our values" are, Falsani's deft walk through the minds of some of the people who most define our culture is brave, adventurous, and completely compelling.

What? Talking about God? Are you crazy?

Finally, a book that gets the most taboo subject out there without blushing or politicizing. People certainly talk about sex more openly than they talk about how they really feel about Jesus and they'll talk about their psychiatric health with Dr.Phil before they'll talk about their spiritual life. Here, Falsani, makes the metaphysical, the existential, and the personal... tangible. I don't think Hugh Hefner has been as intimate with a woman as he is with Falsani in his interview. He is so shy, but when she reveals that her idea of a spiritual pop-culture cannon includes the cult favorite Harold and Maude, he virtually gushes with excitement and proceeds to divulge the most intimate of spiritual details about this own life. I never thought that I would learn something about God from Hugh Hefner, but as Falsani talks openly, without judgment, to these mostly American icons, we learn that God's truth permeates every pore of our culture. How inspiring and uplifting to know that God is that big! Great stories from Studs Terkel, Tom Robbins, and Sherman Alexie. Best moment in the book, however, comes from Irish poet, Seamus Heaney. Moved me to tears. Falsani is funny, self-depricating, and searching for truth not in an "I'm okay, you're okay" kinda way, but through a deep faith that God is good and just and loves us all - even if we don't know He's there.