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

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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 ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Bruce Feiler at BookBrowse
The Council of Dads jacket America's Prophet jacket Abraham jacket
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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

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