The First Christmas

The First Christmas: A Story of New Beginnings

Stephen Mitchell (author)

See the navitity story through new eyes In The First Christmas, award-winning author Stephen Mitchell transforms the nativity story, breathing new life into a familiar tale. The narrative that is only sketched out in the Gospels becomes fully realized with nuanced characters and a setting that conveys the beautiful and complex culture of the time. Mitchell has suffused the birth of Christ with a sense of Zen wisdom and understanding that will delight and astonish readers. Told from a variety of new perspectives―from the shepherds to the ox standing at the edge of the manger―Mitchell has taken a beloved story and created an unexpected delight. Rather than superimposing later Christian concepts onto the Annunciation and Nativity scenes, he imagines Mary and Joseph experiencing the angelic message as a young Jewish woman and man living in the year 4 BCE might have experienced it, with terror, dismay, and ultimately exhilaration. In this context, their acceptance becomes an act of great moral courage. Woven between the chapters of the novel, Mitchell has included brief interludes, insightful pauses reflecting on the story in a new way that will change how readers think of the well-loved story. Readers of every background will be enchanted by this startlingly beautiful reimagining of the Christmas tale.

Stephen Mitchell was born in Brooklyn, educated at Amherst, the Sorbonne, and Yale, and de-educated through intensive Zen training. His many books include the bestselling Tao Te Ching, Gilgamesh, The Gospel According to Jesus, The Book of Job, The Second Book of the Tao, The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, Bhagavad Gita, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, andThe Way of Forgiveness. He is also the co-author of three of his wife Byron Katie's bestselling books.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ St Martin's Press (7 Dec. 2021)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 9781250790699
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.59 x 2.18 x 19.41 cm