Peter Manseau
Peter Manseau is the author of Songs for the Butcher's Daughter, Vows: The Story of a Priest, a Nun, and Their Son and, most recently, Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World's Holy Dead. He founded Killing the Buddha with Jeff Sharlet, and the two wrote Killing the Buddha: A Heretic's Bible. Follow him on Twitter @petermanseau.
Recent Posts by Peter
Praying for Ice
Pilgrims in India long for the cold.
Head-Hunting
An excerpt from Rag and Bone, in which a soccer-playing Syrian calls Bashar al-Assad a lizard.
Hear Peter Read from his Songs
Photos of Jeff Sharlet and Peter Manseau by Becky Garrison. At last night’s Heretical Hanukkah Party (or whatever you want to call it), we had the chance to celebrate KtB co-founder Peter Manseau’s trifecta of Jewish book award wins for his new novel, Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter. He read a few pages from the…
Revelation Road
After ditching the tour group, he’s got twenty-four hours and seven very important Turkish towns to see.
Mistress of the Return
An exclusive excerpt from Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter.
Hands Across the Water
A Russian nun and her impossible song, in an excerpt from Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World’s Holy Dead.
Translator’s Note
A lapsed Catholic discovers the magnificent God of his disbelief in a Yiddish library. An excerpt from KtB founder Peter Manseau’s new novel.
The Word Made Strange
How does the son of fallen clergy rebel? He tries to become a monk. An excerpt from Vows: The Story of a Priest, a Nun, and their Son, now available in paperback.
Let’s Pretend
A clash of civilizations, or a failure of the imagination?
Revising Night: Elie Wiesel and the Hazards of Holocaust Theology
Editors’ note: This essay was first published in April 2001, long before Oprah’s Book Club chose Night as its latest selection. Yet especially in light of doubts concerning the reliability of Oprah’s previous pick, the question raised here remains relevant: In making the Holocaust a matter of theological concern, does Elie Wiesel’s classic memoir court historical revisionism?
Tongue Kissing
The odd romance of relics and the people who love them.
The Last Papal Picture Show
The life, death, and ever-changing image of an icon.
Our Lady of Minor Hostilities
A new icon emerges from Iraq.
Souls on Ice
In a New Hampshire hockey rink, a gay bishop skates into Episcopal history.
What It Is, What It Was
How many one true religions can dance on the head of a pin?
The Archbishop’s New Clothes
The Catholic Church gets a makeover in Boston — but how deep does it go?
His So-Called Life
Pogroms, plagues, Jesus books… ‘Tis the season.
Shock and Awe, Fear and Trembling
War. Huh. Good God, y’all. What is it good for? Depends on who you ask.