2003
The Voice: Spring 2003
Schaap edits new book
What books are worth passing on? Which ones should be read in the
next century, and beyond? What stories have had a major influence on the
lives of those who have read them?
These are the questions answered by More than Words, a recently released book
by author Philip Yancey and James Schaap, author and English professor at Dordt
College, Sioux Center. Schaap prefaces this book as a collection of twenty-one Christian
authors who “locate a moment or series of moments in his or her
life when some literary master, seemed, without a doubt, to be there for
them.” The authors conclude their essays with a short reading guide, which offers
quick tips to aid in selecting a life-impacting book on your next trip
to the library.
“Stories live, not only because they open us up to other worlds but
also because they reveal our own,” says Schaap in his essay contribution. Schaap
himself chose the turn-of-the-century fiction writer Sherwood Anderson as an author who inspired
him; other essayists in the book chose Shakespeare, Milton, J.R.R. Tolkein and Alice
Munro, as well as a variety of other well-known writers.
The compilation was initiated by Philip Yancey, with Schaap serving as editor for
the project. “We have collaborated on this book with one goal in mind,”
says Yancey, “to spread the virus of good reading. May it prove contagious.”
Schaap has published five novels: Home Free, In the Silence There Are Ghosts,
The Secrets of Barneveld Calvary, Romey's Place, and Things Hoped For, Things Not
Seen. He has also published three collections of short stories, Paternity, The Privacy
of Storm and Still Life, as well as several devotional books and a
variety of nonfiction works. Schaap has won several Evangelical Press Association and Associated
Religious Press awards for his short fiction.
More Than Words is published by Baker Books and is available at the
Dordt College bookstore, Christian bookstores and on-line at amazon.com, christianbook.com, and other retail
outlets.
