Join BookBrowse today and get access to free books, our twice monthly digital magazine, and more.

Bruce Feiler biography

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Bruce Feiler
Photo Credit: Andrew Feiler

Bruce Feiler

How to pronounce Bruce Feiler: fi-ler (first syllable rhymes with my)

Bruce Feiler Biography

Bruce Feiler is the New York Times bestselling author of Walking the Bible, The Council of Dads, Learning to Bow, Looking for Class, and Under the Big Top.

A frequent contributor to NPR's All Things Considered, and contributing editor for Gourmet he writes regularly about American music for The New York Times, The New Yorker, and other publications. He recieved international acclaim for his influential cover story in The New Republic, Gone Country. He also writes the "This Life" column about today's families for the Sunday New York Times.

He is the writer/presenter of the PBS series "Walking the Bible" and "Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler" (July 2014).

Bruce was named "Father of the Year" by the National Fatherhood Initiative.

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Feiler lives in Brooklyn with wife, Linda Rottenberg, and their daughters.

Bruce Feiler's website

This bio was last updated on 07/28/2014. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Interview

Bruce Feiler argues persuasively that Abraham, the father of the three largest monotheistic world religions, can be a source of hope and unity in a fractured world.

Why did you write a book about Abraham?
I was actually working on another project about the Middle East when my brother called me on the morning of September 11th and told me to look outside my window. A few hours later I watched the towers fall. Like everyone else, I was mute for several weeks as we began to hear these questions: Who are they? Why do they hate us? Can the religions get along? We had been told for years that the world would soon face a clash of civilization, the Islamic world versus the Judeo-Christian world. Was this the start of that moment?

And if you listened closely to those questions, one name echoed behind all those conversations. Abraham. He is the shared ancestor of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He is the father -- in many cases, the biological father -- of twelve million Jews, two billion Christians, and one billion Muslims around the world. And yet, he is virtually unknown.

I wanted to know him. I wanted to figure out whether he was a hopeless fount of war or a possible vessel for reconciliation. And so, two weeks after September 11th, I got up off my couch, went back to the Middle East, and tried to answer the question: Can Abraham save the world?

What is the message of ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Books by this Author

Books by Bruce Feiler at BookBrowse
The Council of Dads jacket America's Prophet jacket Abraham jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Bruce Feiler but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Karen Armstrong

    Karen Armstrong

    Karen Armstrong, author, scholar, and journalist, is among the world's foremost commentators on religious history and culture.

    She is the author of numerous books on religion, including The Case for God, A History of God, ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Abraham

    Try:
    The Great Transformation
    by Karen Armstrong

  • Thomas Cahill

    Thomas Cahill

    Thomas Cahill was the author of the bestselling Hinges of History series (a planned seven part series) including How The Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Abraham

    Try:
    The Gifts of The Jews
    by Thomas Cahill

We recommend 5 similar authors

View all 5 Read-Alikes

Non-members can see 2 results. Become a member
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Support BookBrowse

Join our inner reading circle, go ad-free and get way more!

Find out more


Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Change
    Change
    by Edouard Louis
    Édouard Louis's 2014 debut novel, The End of Eddy—an instant literary success, published ...
  • Book Jacket: Big Time
    Big Time
    by Ben H. Winters
    Big Time, the latest offering from prolific novelist and screenwriter Ben H. Winters, is as ...
  • Book Jacket: Becoming Madam Secretary
    Becoming Madam Secretary
    by Stephanie Dray
    Our First Impressions reviewers enjoyed reading about Frances Perkins, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's ...
  • Book Jacket: The Last Bloodcarver
    The Last Bloodcarver
    by Vanessa Le
    The city-state of Theumas is a gleaming metropolis of advanced technology and innovation where the ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
Half a Cup of Sand and Sky
by Nadine Bjursten
A poignant portrayal of a woman's quest for love and belonging amid political turmoil.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The Stone Home
    by Crystal Hana Kim

    A moving family drama and coming-of-age story revealing a dark corner of South Korean history.

  • Book Jacket

    The House on Biscayne Bay
    by Chanel Cleeton

    As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.

Win This Book
Win The Funeral Cryer

The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu

Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.

Enter

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

M as A H

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.