Waiting for Godot in Sarajevo: Theological Reflections on Nihilsim, Tragedy, and Apocalypse

Author/Contributor(s):	Toole, David
Publisher:	Basic Books
Date:	06/26/1998
Binding:	Hardcover
Condition:	NEW

In "Waiting for Godot in Sarajevo, " David Toole seeks to come to terms with what it means to live a life of dignity in a world of undeniable suffering. Using as his backdrop Susan Sontag's staging of Act I of "Waiting for Godot" in war-torn Sarajevo, Toole skillfully weaves together Friedrich Nietzsche's views on nihilism with Michel Foucault's analysis of power to produce a politics of tragedy, or what Toole calls a "politics of dying." Such politics are then used to shed new theological light on the Christian apocalypse and what it means to be alive at the end of the twentieth century. In making his argument, Toole draws innovative connections between such diverse figures as John Milbank, Alasdair MacIntyre, Euripides, John Howard Yoder, and Norman Maclean (author of "A River Runs Through It" and "Young Men and Fire"), all the while using Beckett's play as a compass for his direction. The end result is a fascinating, eminently readable, unexpectedly adventurous theological inquiry into the meaning of life.