Kaveh over at On the Margin of Error on Freethought Blogs has read Beyond an Absence of Faith and has given a great review. Here is an excerpt. Check it the full review over at FTB:
Beyond an Absence of Faith is an anthology of 16 accounts of atheists talking about their deconversion and struggle with religion. It’s been co-edited by Jonathan MS Pearce (who writes the blog The Tippling Philosopher) and Tristan Vick (who writes Advocatus Atheist) and our own Jeremy Beahan (of Reasonable Doubts) wrote a foreword to it. It also happens to be my number one favorite atheist book that I have ever read. In this review I want to explain why.
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And if we consider memoirs as literature (as we should), a great memoir can be the same. I’d argue that reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the best class for everyone to learn about racism, poverty, sexism, and rape, and also hope and empowerment, as all these issues affected one of the most poetic and observant souls of our time.
Which is why I love Beyond an Absence of Faith so much, more than any other atheist book I have read so far. Because it does the same thing for the ideas and concepts we in the atheist community struggle with. It shows them through multiple individuals. It’s a book about people and ideas, not only the ideas. It’s literature.
It’s not the collection of arguments in favor of atheism. It’s not the case against religion. It’s about people dealing with atheism and religion. It’s not a book about humanist values, it’s a humanist book.
The need for such a book was long overdue. And I appreciate that it has arrived.
