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Subtitle "A Comic Tale of Life, Death, and Atheism".
I really enjoy listening to Mary Eberstadt. Incredibly bright.
It's a play on Screwtape Letters (to some extent). A young gal has finally converted to atheism and she's writing letters (each chapter is one of her letters) to the leaders of the New Atheism (this book is from 2010). Most of the letters address what the New Atheism is doing wrong and could do better: their ignorance about the impact of the sexual revolution, their poor understanding of women, the lack of good art/aesthetics, how atheists don't match up to theists with charitable giving....
The author of the letters is a Generation X girl... and it lends itself to this contrived sense of Mary acting "hip" through the words of this girl. Some corny phrasing that can be uncomfortable to read "the point was as plain as the ring in my nose"... Ugh. At times I was reminded of "That 80s Show" that tried to be the next "That 70s Show" by forcing 80s cultural references in every interaction.
That being said.... the end of the book is incredible. There's so much heart and sincerity to the final chapters that it close to makes up for all of that earlier discomfort. The girl-narrator became more convincing as the book went on. Maybe Mary was just finding her stride. If only it motivated her to take that momentum and redo those first 6 chapters (at least regarding the style of the narrator).
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For who we are and what we'll be/ I'll sing your praise eternally/ the miles we've shared I'd trade but few/ they're the ones that kept me away from you.
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