Seconded. I haven’t read it all the way through, but either before or after you see a Shakespeare play, it’s a great resource. For me, his most interesting insight - or theory - was that the English language changed a lot more in the centuries before Shakespeare than it has since because we, as a society, on some level never want to change the language so much that we can’t still read, hear and enjoy Shakespeare.
I was going to recommend this one. I’ve checked this out from the local library several times. There’s a joke regarding Abercrombie and Fitch (back when it was a department store with a sporting goods department) that is absolutely hilarious.
I have “Asimov’s Guide to the Bible”, and I enjoyed it. It’s a good overview of the secular side of the Bible, and was perhaps a bit of an eye opener to the average person whose only knowledge of the Bible came from what they learned in church.
I recently consulted it when I was discussing Jesus’s siblings with my daughter. My daughter was raised Catholic and had no idea that Jesus had siblings and they are mentioned in the Bible. Apparently, the Catholic Church glosses over those passages and thinks that Mary and Joseph never had sex even after Jesus was born.
These prices are exorbitant, so try to find another source for The Clock We Live On
Since you bring it up, I feel compelled to link to the Straight Dope: Did Jesus have siblings?
IIRC, they explain that away by saying the term “brothers” as used in Gospel Greek actually means “cousins.” Another explanation is that Mary was not Joseph’s first wife, and the “brethren of the Lord” were only his half-brothers; Catholic doctrine is committed to the perpetual virginity of Mary, but not of Joseph. In fact, that latter explanation makes Mary’s perpetual virginity more plausible – i.e., she married an old man who had already done the child-begetting thing and might not have insisted on, or had the capacity to exercise, his conjugal rights.
Of course, a sexless marriage would be totally non-Jewish. Husbands have a Talmudic duty to service their wives periodically, I believe, and not for reproduction but just to keep them happy.
OK, so maybe Joseph went down on Mary on a regular basis. There we go; healthy conjugal relations, but she’s still technically a virgin. Everyone’s happy.
Um, Chronos, it’s the Vatican on Line 2.
It might explain Jesus’ “Eat my flesh, drink my blood” fixation.
And he always did it on Fridays, which explains why beaver’s considered a fish.
Good. Set up a conference call with Jack Chick on Line 3.
Hey, they got themselves into this mess, they can get out of it.
I would suggest two possibilities:
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Any collection of essays from Fantasy & Science Fiction. You pretty much can’t go wrong. If you want them all on a particular subject, you can try Asimov on Physics, Asimov on Math, etc., or you can try one of the general collections for an assortment of topics.
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The most recent edition you can find of The Intelligent Man’s Guide to Science. This was one of my favorite books when I was about twelve and it totally turned me on to science. It covers a vast range and is incredibly well written.