Buddhism and American Writing
There have been several recent studies of literary writing as something that crosses between secular artistry and religious practice, for example Kyle Garton-Gundling’s Enlightened Individualism: Buddhism and Hinduism in American Literature from the Beats to the Present and Avram Alpert’s A Partial Enlightenment: What Modern Literature and Buddhism Can Teach Us About Living Well Without Perfection. The writers who are discussed in relation to Buddhism and other religions spreading from Asia to the West has increased since the Beats were the “usual suspects,” but it was surprising that Buddhism was rarely mentioned in the recent obituaries of bell hooks.