Harsh Out Of Tenderness

Elias Petropoulos was the most controversial Greek writer of the twentieth century. Imprisoned three times during the Junta (1967-1974) and persecuted by Greek judges as late as the 1980s, this poet and "urban folklorist" produced a vast and groundbreaking oeuvre that continues to provoke extreme reactions from readers. Wielding his precise and provocative style on subject matter ranging from prison life, rebetika music, gay slang, traditional food and public hygiene, to the sociology of brothels, newspaper stands, moustaches, canes and gravestones, Petropoulos aggressively and rigorously challenged the narrow ways in which Greek culture was perceived.After arriving in Paris from the island of Samos in 1977, the American writer, critic and translator John Taylor tacked up a want ad in a Greek bookshop because he was seeking a collaborator for a translation project. Petropoulos, who emigrated to France in 1975, answered the want ad, and thus began a close working relationship that lasted until the author's death in 2003. This insider's portrait features translated excerpts of Petropoulos's writings, and discusses his ideas and methodology, woven together with touching reminiscences and observations about the man behind the sulphurous reputation. It is the first book to appear in English that deals so thoroughly and poetically with this enfant terrible of Modern Greek letters.

Eighteen-year-old Eric has just been released from juvenile detention for murdering his mother and stepfather. Now he’s looking for tenderness—tenderness he finds in caressing and killing beautiful girls. Fifteen-year-old Lori has run away from home again. Emotionally naïve but sexually precocious, she is also looking for tenderness—tenderness she finds in Eric. Will Lori and Eric be each other’s salvation or destruction? Told from their alternating points of view, this harrowing thriller speeds to its fateful conclusion with an irresistible force, and a final twist that will not be easily forgotten.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1865.

The world is a broken place marred by evil, and evil’s influence impacts us all. It is often difficult for people to grasp what God is like in a world such as ours. Jesus shows us the heart of God in a world of heartache. He is the most beautiful, compelling, tender person who has lived. Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory. He shines forth what God is like; He is a beacon of light that cuts through the darkness of evil and radiates the goodness of God. He is the exact representation of God the Father. If you want to know what God is like, look to Jesus. Don’t look through the lens of evil or the lenses of either the church or religion. Look to Jesus. That is why He came. The world is not an exact representation of God. The church is not an exact representation of God. Jesus is. He came to freshly present what the Father is like to those of us who are spiritually impaired by a world of suffering. The Tenderness of Jesus, in many ways, is my most personal book to date. I invite you to listen in as I write to my four young adult children about the tenderness of Jesus Christ. Come sit with us around the dinner table. May this fresh glimpse of Jesus heal your broken heart and reignite your spiritual fervor.