In rare interviews, renowned artists and intellectuals such as Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, holistic guru Deepak Chopra, singer Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), actress/comedienne Julia Sweeney, cartoonist Roz Chast, interfaith maven Huston Smith, and many more talk intimately about their religious backgrounds, the rites of passage they went through, and how these events shaped who they are today.

Magida compares these coming of age ceremonies' origins and evolution, considers their ultimate meaning and purpose, and gauges how their meaning changes with individuals over time. He also examines innovative rites of passage that are now being "invented" in the United States. Passionate and lyrical, this absorbing book reveals our deep, ultimate need for coming-of-age events, especially in a society as fluid as ours.

Conversations with:
Bob Abernethy
Huston Smith
Julia Sweeney
Harold Kushner
Ram Dass
Elie Wiesel
Deepak Chopra
Robert Thurman
Coleman Barks
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)
Roz Chast
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Abigail Pogrebin
Roshi John Loori
Jim Zogby
Chinua Achebe
Leon Botstein
And others


ADVANCE PRAISE for OPENING THE DOORS OF WONDER

"A wonderful, important book. Opening the Doors of Wonder will go far toward helping us understand one another. This is a much-needed venture in our post-9/11 age."
--Henry Louis Gates, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities, Harvard University

"Magida's lively portraits of transformation demonstrate both the losses and gains that come with the struggle to find religious meaning within a community. This book promises to stir up powerful memories and reframe the challenge of living faithfully within a world of competing, often conflicting religious claims."
--Dr. Christopher M. Leighton, Executive Director, Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies

"Through the humor and pathos of these stories, we are offered a vital, very readable investigation of our society's current spiritual condition. I highly recommend Opening the Doors of Wonder. In whatever way you can, walk on through."
--Wes Nisker, Buddhist meditation teacher, journalist, author of Essential Crazy Wisdom

"Magida's style is often poetic, and his interviews reveal, often in surprising ways, how deeply, and often how invisibly, people of all faiths are influenced by religion's rituals and ceremonies. Moreover, they show how the failure or disappointment of our rites of passage can affect the way we deal with transition for the rest of our lives."
--Phil Cousineau, author of The Art of Pilgrimage and Once and Future Myths

BIO

In addition to Opening the Doors of Wonder, Arthur J. Magida's books include The Rabbi and The Hit Man, the true story of a New Jersey rabbi who hired a hit man to kill his wife, Prophet of Rage, the only biography of Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan, and How To Be a Perfect Stranger: A Guide to Etiquette in Other People's Religious Ceremonies.

Writer-in-residence at the University of Baltimore, Magida has been a columnist for the on-line religion magazine, Beliefnet.com; a contributing correspondent to PBS's "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly;" a consultant to the Unites States Holocaust Museum. editorial director of Jewish Lights Publishing; senior editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times; and a staff writer for Ralph Nader.

He is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Religion, Who's Who in the East and International Authors and Writers Who's Who, and has appeared on Dateline, the CBS Early Show, Court TV's "Catherine Crier Live," "The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour," ABC's "World News Tonight," C-Span's "Booknotes," NPR's "Morning Edition" two A&E documentaries and the Hallmark Channel show, "New Morning."

He has spoken in forums around the country -- universities and colleges, houses of worship; and civic and interfaith groups.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday, September 30, 2006
Panel Discussion & Signing:"From the Beat to Books: Journalists Turned Authors"
1:30 to 2:45 p.m.
The Baltimore Book Festival
Mount Vernon Place
Baltimore, Maryland
Contact;Gregg Wilhelm
410-274-5691

Sunday, October 1, 2006
Panel Discussion & Signing: "Navigating the Spiritual Highway"
3 p.m.
The Baltimore Book Festival
Mount Vernon Place
Baltimore, Maryland
Contact: Susan Weis
410-235-7323

Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Reading & Signing
University of Baltimore Student Center
21 West Mount Royal Street
Baltimore, Maryland
Contact: Kendra Kopelke
410-837-6026

Thursday, October 19, 2006
7:00 p.m.
Talk & Reading
Jewish Community Center
3506 Gwynnbrook Avene
Owings Mills, Maryland
Contact: Email: Claudine Davison
410-542-4900, ext.239


Saturday, October 21, 2006
1:00 p.m.
Talk & Reading
breathe books
810 W. 36th Street
Baltimore, Maryland
Contact: Susan Weis
410-235-7323

Sunday, October 22, 2006
Talk &Signing
Chizuk Amuno Congregation
8100 Stevenson Road
Pikesville, Maryland
Contact: Judy Meltzer
410-824-2058

Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Reading & Signing
Barnes & Noble
1819 Reisterstown Road
Pikesville, Maryland
Contact: Brad Sibel
410-415-6782

Wednesday, November 15, 2006
7 to 9 p.m.
Talk & Reading
Kaleidoscope
Roland Park Country School
5204 Roland Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland
410-323-5500, ext.3045


Dates to be announced: Marlboro College, Marlboro, VT and Temple Israel of the City of New York


E-mail: Arthur Magida for last minute updates, additions or questions.

THE RABBI AND THE HITMAN: A True Tale of Murder, Passion, and the Shattered Faith of a Congregation

On the evening of November 1, 1994, Rabbi Fred Neulander returned home to find his wife, Carol, facedown on the living room floor, blood everywhere. He called for help, but it was too late. Two trials and eight years later, the founder of what had become the largest reform synagogue in southern New Jersey was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

THE RABBI AND THE HITMAN is a fascinating true-crime narrative about the first rabbi ever convicted of murder. In a gripping examination of the misuses of the pulpit and the self-delusions of power, Arthur J. Magida paints a devastating portrait of a manipulative man who used his temple as a place to acquire several mistresses -- and to befriend a lonely recovering alcoholic, whom he convinced to kill his wife "for the good of Israel."

THE RABBI AND THE HITMAN straddles the juncture between faith and trust, and confronts issues of sex, narcissism, arrogance, and adultery. At its core are such troubling questions as: Why do we often deify clergy, and what are the consequences when they betray us? What happens when religious leaders who set the standards of ethical behavior fail to abide by them in their personal lives -- and instead contribute to the decline of morality in modern America?

PRAISE for THE RABBI AND THE HITMAN

"Blends deep reporting and psychological insight with the true-crime genre"
--Philadelphia Daily News

"A breakthrough book. In Magida's hands, the true-crime thriller reaches new levels of - members of the public, how say you? - fascination or revulsion."
--The Baltimore Sun

"...The details of this case are not for the squeamish. This is true evil and savagery.... Magida's style is compelling."
--New York Jewish Week

"... a dense yet tightly paced retelling that reads like a top-notch crime novel...a thoroughly entertaining and satisfying read..."
--The Jewish Bulletin of Northern California

BOOK ORDERS

We want to thank many local (Baltimore-Washington, D.C.) bookstores for hosting talks and readings:
For your convenience, click on any link
to order a book online.
Barnes & Noble
Borders
Ivy Books
6080 Falls Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21209
and Breathe Books
810 W. 36th Street, Baltimore, Maryland