Born Twice

This international bestseller is a sweeping portrait of motherhood, loss, and redemption in war-torn Sarajevo. Filled with memories of the four-year siege of Sarajevo, Gemma reluctantly boards a flight from her native Rome to that war-scarred city with her sixteen-year-old son, Pietro. She hopes to teach her son about the city of his birth and about Diego, the father he never knew. Once there Gemma is caught between the present and the past, reliving her love affair with Diego, their determination to start a family, and their deep connection to Sarajevo even as the threat of war loomed. In this haunting and sophisticated novel, Mazzantini masterfully probes the startling emotional territory of what makes a family-particularly what makes a mother. As the fate of Sarajevo converges with Gemma's all-consuming desire to have a child we see how far she is driven, in a stunning revelation that is both heartbreaking and cathartic. Brought to life by an unforgettable cast of characters, Twice Born is a tale of the acts of brutality and generosity that war can inspire. A blockbuster bestseller in Mazzantini's native Italy, it has taken Europe by storm and will soon be published around the world.

In The Twice-Born, Aatish Taseer embarks on a journey of self-discovery in an intoxicating, unsettling personal reckoning with modern India, where ancient customs collide with the contemporary politics of revivalism and revenge When Aatish Taseer first came to Benares, the spiritual capital of Hinduism, he was eighteen, the Westernized child of an Indian journalist and a Pakistani politician, raised among the intellectual and cultural elite of New Delhi. Nearly two decades later, Taseer leaves his life in Manhattan to go in search of the Brahmins, wanting to understand his own estrangement from India through their ties to tradition. Known as the twice-born—first into the flesh, and again when initiated into their vocation—the Brahmins are a caste devoted to sacred learning. But what Taseer finds in Benares, the holy city of death also known as Varanasi, is a window on an India as internally fractured as his own continent-bridging identity. At every turn, the seductive, homogenizing force of modernity collides with the insistent presence of the past. In a globalized world, to be modern is to renounce India—and yet the tide of nationalism is rising, heralded by cries of “Victory to Mother India!” and an outbreak of anti-Muslim violence. From the narrow streets of the temple town to a Modi rally in Delhi, among the blossoming cotton trees and the bathers and burning corpses of the Ganges, Taseer struggles to reconcile magic with reason, faith in tradition with hope for the future and the brutalities of the caste system, all the while challenging his own myths about himself, his past, and his countries old and new.

When a breach birth leaves Paulo severely disabled, his father, the articulate, unsentimental Professor Frigerio, struggles to come to terms with his son’s condition. Face to face with his own limitations, Frigerio confronts the strange way society around him handles Paolo’s handicaps and observes his surprising gifts. In spare, deeply affecting episodes, the professor of language explores the nuanced boundaries between “normal” and “disabled” worlds. A remarkable memoir of fathering, winner of the 2001 Strega Prize, Italy’s most prestigious literary honor, Born Twice is noted Italian author Guiseppe Pontiggia’s American debut. Sometimes meditative, often humorous, and always probing, Pontiggia’s haunting characters linger and resound long after the book is done.

Why is this happening? Why him? Why us? I can't count the number of times those words echoed through my mind over the course of the summer of 2017. There is no more powerless feeling for a parent than being forced to watch as their child battles for his health & well being. At my wife's 20 week ultrasound, we expected to learn the sex of our second munchkin, but instead our world was crumbled. Words like Spina Bifida, Arnold Chiari Malformation, Myelomeningocele & Hydrocephalus destroyed the excitement we held and replaced it with more uncertainty than we knew existed. The next weeks & months were a whirlwind as we met with specialists and flew across the country so that my wife could undergo fetal surgery to close the opening in my son's back, as well as give him the best chance for a life of worthwhile quality. We would remain there for 4 months, away from our oldest son & our home. Our little Loxley Poet had our hearts from the beginning, so it was never a question as to if we would do all in our power to give him the best chance. It was only a matter of how and when? The amazing people in our lives, our friends & family, made sure we had everything we needed, support in all shapes and sizes. Our journey being what it was, I decided that I could look at it as a burden or as an opportunity. Instead of asking ourselves 'why, ' perhaps we should have been asking ourselves, 'why not?' So, thats what we did. We would handle this and we would thrive, because thats what families do. That's how we survive. That's how we live. This book is for my little warrior, all of his twice born brothers & sisters, as well as their selfless families willing to sacrifice some so that their children may have it all.

When Huy is sent away from his family’s farm to a prestigious school for a chance at a better life as a scribe, he is soon befriended by the family of the local governor. But just as Huy starts to feel at home with his aristocratic new friends, an unexpected attack shockingly takes his life. After five days in a crypt being prepared for his own burial, Huy miraculously revives. His mysterious return to life makes him a pariah, and although he longs to lead a normal life, Huy finds himself haunted by visions of the deaths of those around him. An ingenious and suspenseful novel of ancient Egypt, The Twice Born is a treat for all fans of historical or fantasy fiction.

'Once-Born, Twice-Born Zen' is a fresh treatment of the two major Zen schools of Japan. Its biographical and comparative approach is both original and very readable. The use of William James' typology, along with other phenomenological categories, provides the reader with helpful handles for distinguishing the schools, as well as similar tendencies in other religious traditions. The book should make an excellent text for introductory and middle-level courses in which one is trying to get students to develop categories for understanding religious experience and behavior. Readers will see something of themselves in the range of biographical examples given, and will detect their own tendencies through the use of this method. -- Bardwell Smith

Born Twice, Died Once The book reflects the ups and downs of a walk with Jesus. Read it and compare it to personal walk of faith with Jesus Christ. My hope is that it will encourage you to look at your life according to your faith. God, through Jesus Christ, is able to sustain you and keep you through life. He is our victor. He paid the price and already died for your sins. So please read this book. Its a matter of life and freedom from sin or a road to condemnation. After you read this book, you will know beyond a reasonable doubt that Jesus loves you. Many may think, Oh! He needed to God! But thats ok right now. Whether I needed God or not, let me say that is a reality that there is God. And its not you. The earth speaks of the many realities of God and His Christ. I challenge you to read this book. It will surely lead you to a deeper relationship with the Creator of all things, including mankind. In His grip, Willie Ripple John 3:16: For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.