Table of Contents

Introduction: The Evidence of Things Unseen

Paul Auster: A Mocking and Unfathomable Mystery
Saul Bellow: I Believe in God but I Don't Bug Him
Michael Cunningham: We Are All God's Children
Nathan Englander: Whoever Wrote the Bible Is God
Jane Fonda: Christ Was the First Feminist
Richard Ford: I Believe in the Redemptiveness of Art
Paula Fox: God Is the Name of Something I Don't Understand
Johnathan Frazen: Reality Is an Illusion
Spike Lee: I No Longer Felt Anything in Church
Daniel Libeskind: We Believe the Moment We See
David Lynch: Good and Evil Are Within Us
Toni Morrison: The Search is More Important Than the Conclusion
Grace Paley: Death Is the End of Everything
Salman Rushdie: I Believe in a Mortal Soul
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.: I Am an Agnostic
Martin Scorsese: God Is Not a Torturer
Derek Walcott: I Believe That I Believe
Elie Wiesel: I Have a Wounded Faith

Acknowledgments

About the Author

ANTONIO MONDA teaches in the Film and Television Department of New York University. An award winning filmmaker, he is author of A Journey into American Cinema, and editor/author of The Hidden God.

Reviews

“When the Italian writer Antonio Monda sat down to talk religion with American cultural leaders... he went straight for the big questions.” —O, The Oprah Magazine

“Deeply moving, Do You Believe? is a truly compelling book, bound to become a classic.” —Commonweal

“As an interviewer, Monda has a light touch and a penchant for asking direct existential questions in the European manner: ‘Do you think images are replacing the written word?’ ‘Are you a pessimist or an optimist?’ ‘Comment on Dostoyevsky’s assertion that ‘If God doesn’t exist, everything is permitted.’ He’s a vivid exemplar of Italy’s baroque rhetorical culture, in which playfully meandering discussion is often prized over conclusions.” —The New York Times Book Review

“In a series of short, informal conversations, NYU film professor Monda cuts to the heart of a question that not only provides the title for the book, but that he believes provides the key to existence.... The book should prove revelatory to believers and atheists alike, and to anyone interested in the ways in which spirituality informs art and culture.” —Kirkus Reviews

“This is a thoughtful, provocative and concise volume.” —Publishers Weekly

“The premise here is simple and straightforward. Cultural critic Monda asked some of the big names in popular culture variations on two basic questions: Do you think God exists? and How has your answer affected your life choices? The responses are often surprising, even quite startling.... Provocative and entertaining.” —Booklist

“Entrancing from page one.... Each interview provides a wonderful insight into ideas that are widespread throughout the country.... This short collection is easy-to-read yet full of intellectual dialogue that will cause you to think if nothing else. I haven’t been so intrigued by a book since college, and intend to buy a copy of Do You Believe? for many of my friends and relatives for Christmas.” —BookLoons.com

“Monda ... proves himself an adventurous and risk-taking dialog partner.... The discussion sends an empowering message to those raising preliminary questions about faith and is a touchstone for well-traveled souls. Monda’s humble voice and his ability to engage interviewees in a dialog that is both insightful and sincere make this book especially accessible. He offers readers the beauty, excitement, and perplexity of the journey, giving them hope to work out their answers.” —Library Journal (starred review)