Book DescriptionClassic paradoxes of philosophy and theology are combined with cutting-edge humor in Walter Benesch’s collection of short stories, The Ecumenical Cruise and Other Three-Legged Chicken Philosophy Tales. The book is the lead title in the outstanding initial list of Nonetheless Press.
Benesch, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, has taught and written extensively on the subjects of comparative philosophy and religion. His subjects take unusual twists in his new book, including:
· A debate between a doughnut and a doughnut hole on the differences between ‘nothingness’ and ‘emptiness’, in the story Satori at the Doughnut Shop.
· A queen’s rebellion againstthe religious tradition that when women die they are recycled again as women, whereas men and stallions go to paradise, in Queen Vashti Goes to Heaven.
· A bed bug’s discussion of the consequences of drinking a single drop of blood from thelittle toe of the baby Jesus in The Bed Bug.
· A salesman’s success in peddling ‘inflatable’ university presidents, chancellors, and deans in The Making of Presidents.
· Discovery by the oldest bag boy in the U.S. that hehas the power to change his customers’ shapes by squinting at them through juice glasses, in The Man Who Worked at Crunchy’s.
Some of the stories take appealing concepts to unlikely conclusions. For example, in the title story, The Ecumenical Cruise, the leaders of all the world’s religions, meeting on a cruise ship to work out their differences, are suddenly overwhelmed by methane gas and vote unanimously that "all gods are created equal, and all paths to paradise are equally valid". The story then examines the consequences of this action for gods and people, as it means that anybody who believes anything must be admitted to paradise. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге The Ecumenical Cruise and Other Three-Legged Chicken Philosophy Tales (Walter Benesch)