Engaging Voices: Tales of Morality and Meaning in an Age of Global Warming
This book of short stories begins quite unusually—a professor and lecturer (and the book's author) Gottlieb is fictitiously given this manuscript by an audience member. What follows are stories about choices and judgment, religion and ethics. In one tale, a skeptical teacher holds a class at a prison where the inmates fight over the truthfulness of the major world religions. At the end of the session, one inmate has the last word and asks if they are just arguing semantics when the real problems of the world lie in something even greater. In another story, a university chancellor receives a  million donation with the stipulation it must be used to fund a comprehensive program. He summons the heads of several departments to choose among them, but realizes the greater strength in their unity. Gottlieb (A Greener Faith) carefully crafts morality tales that champion disparate yet constructive voices while still giving a platform to the myopic dissenters. While the characters' sole purpose is to facilitate these kinds of dialogues, the author's curious approach is a refreshing way to "engage" in these debates. (Mar.)(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC.  All rights reserved.