Paradise Now
Living the Lord's Prayer
Will be published approx. on 5. November 2026
Book
Hardback
160 pages
979-8-89895-007-1 (ISBN)
Description
An acclaimed, award-winning, and best-selling poet, novelist, and critic turns his poetic and literary eye to the most famous prayer in human history.
For Christians, the Lord's Prayer stands at the heart of both belief and practice. It offers a brief yet profound window into Jesus at prayer, and it continues to guide those who follow in his way. In this close, meditative, and far-reaching reading-drawn from the slightly different versions found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke-Parini brings to bear his formidable gifts as poet, critic, and teacher.
Moving line by line, Parini unpacks the depth and resonance of this fabled prayer, illuminating its layers of meaning and the many ways it reveals the nature of God. In doing so, he considers what it truly means to live the Lord's Prayer: to lean into its words, inhabit them, and allow them to shape one's character and daily practice of faith and reconciliation.
Parini-whose distinguished career has been recognized with major honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship-draws on his mastery as poet, critic, and novelist to emphasize the prayer's lived dimension. He helps readers experience it not simply as a sacred text, but as a transformative way of being.
Praise for Jay Parini
THE PATCH BOYS
"Subtly paced narrative." - The New York Times Book Review
"Dazzling." - Los Angeles Times
"A beautifully crafted coming-of-age novel." - Library Journal
THE LAST STATION
The New York Times Notable Book of the Year * Basis for the Oscar-nominated film
"An absorbing account of Tolstoy's last year." - Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"One of the best historical novels of the last twenty years." - Gore Vidal
"A fine novel." - Rowan Williams
BENJAMIN'S CROSSING
The New York Times Notable Book
"An elegant novel about the paradoxical critic Walter Benjamin." - The New York Times Book Review
ROBERT FROST: A LIFE
"A pleasure to read... brings Frost sharply into focus." - The New York Times
"Humanizing and illuminating." - The Miami Herald
ONE MATCHLESS TIME: A LIFE OF WILLIAM FAULKNER
"A vivid tribute." - J.M. Coetzee
"A landmark biography." - Library Journal (starred)
"Spellbinding... enthralling." - Houston Chronicle / Seattle Times
WHY POETRY MATTERS
"Celebrates poetry and life itself." - Samuel Pickering
"Concise, cogent, and convincing." - J.D. McClatchy
JESUS: THE HUMAN FACE OF GOD
Amazon Best Book of the Month
"Capacious and inspiring." - The Seattle Times
"A warm, bold, well-written biography." - The Huffington Post
"Well informed and deeply personal." - The Boston Globe
THE PASSAGES OF H.M.
"A thoughtful re-imagining." - The Washington Post
"Deeply absorbing... adds to Melville's presence." - Los Angeles Times
BORGES AND ME
"A jewel of a book-funny, clever, moving." - Ian McEwan
"Full of energy and humor." - Ann Beattie
"Brings Borges sharply to life." - The New York Times
"A classic comic-philosophical road story." - The Wall Street Journal
For Christians, the Lord's Prayer stands at the heart of both belief and practice. It offers a brief yet profound window into Jesus at prayer, and it continues to guide those who follow in his way. In this close, meditative, and far-reaching reading-drawn from the slightly different versions found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke-Parini brings to bear his formidable gifts as poet, critic, and teacher.
Moving line by line, Parini unpacks the depth and resonance of this fabled prayer, illuminating its layers of meaning and the many ways it reveals the nature of God. In doing so, he considers what it truly means to live the Lord's Prayer: to lean into its words, inhabit them, and allow them to shape one's character and daily practice of faith and reconciliation.
Parini-whose distinguished career has been recognized with major honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship-draws on his mastery as poet, critic, and novelist to emphasize the prayer's lived dimension. He helps readers experience it not simply as a sacred text, but as a transformative way of being.
Praise for Jay Parini
THE PATCH BOYS
"Subtly paced narrative." - The New York Times Book Review
"Dazzling." - Los Angeles Times
"A beautifully crafted coming-of-age novel." - Library Journal
THE LAST STATION
The New York Times Notable Book of the Year * Basis for the Oscar-nominated film
"An absorbing account of Tolstoy's last year." - Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"One of the best historical novels of the last twenty years." - Gore Vidal
"A fine novel." - Rowan Williams
BENJAMIN'S CROSSING
The New York Times Notable Book
"An elegant novel about the paradoxical critic Walter Benjamin." - The New York Times Book Review
ROBERT FROST: A LIFE
"A pleasure to read... brings Frost sharply into focus." - The New York Times
"Humanizing and illuminating." - The Miami Herald
ONE MATCHLESS TIME: A LIFE OF WILLIAM FAULKNER
"A vivid tribute." - J.M. Coetzee
"A landmark biography." - Library Journal (starred)
"Spellbinding... enthralling." - Houston Chronicle / Seattle Times
WHY POETRY MATTERS
"Celebrates poetry and life itself." - Samuel Pickering
"Concise, cogent, and convincing." - J.D. McClatchy
JESUS: THE HUMAN FACE OF GOD
Amazon Best Book of the Month
"Capacious and inspiring." - The Seattle Times
"A warm, bold, well-written biography." - The Huffington Post
"Well informed and deeply personal." - The Boston Globe
THE PASSAGES OF H.M.
"A thoughtful re-imagining." - The Washington Post
"Deeply absorbing... adds to Melville's presence." - Los Angeles Times
BORGES AND ME
"A jewel of a book-funny, clever, moving." - Ian McEwan
"Full of energy and humor." - Ann Beattie
"Brings Borges sharply to life." - The New York Times
"A classic comic-philosophical road story." - The Wall Street Journal
Reviews / Votes
"Paradise Now is both inspiring and inspired! Jay Parini leads us gently through the essential prayer of Christianity, writing with a keen ear for nuance and a lovely eye for details. Grace and truth live in these pages." * Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation, author of New York Times bestseller The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom For an Age of Outrage *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Harrisburg
United States
Publishing group
Church Publishing Inc
Product notice
With dust jacket
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 139 mm
ISBN-13
979-8-89895-007-1 (9798898950071)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jay Parini has written eight novels, including Benjamin's Crossing, The Damascus Road, The Apprentice Lover, The Passages of H.M., and The Last Station-the latter which was made into an Academy Award-nominated film. He has written biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost, William Faulkner, Jesus, and Gore Vidal. Parini's nonfiction works include The Art of Teaching, Why Poetry Matters, Promised Land: Thirteen Books that Changed America, and The Way of Jesus. His most recent book, Borges and Me: An Encounter, is a memoir which has just been filmed. He graduated from both Lafayette College and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where he received a Ph.D., and he is a faculty member of Middlebury College. Parini lives in Weybridge, Vermont.