The 7 Deadly Sins Sampler

Why does it often feel good to do something bad? In a world where we are encouraged to indulge, splurge, live a little--even visit ''Sin City''--has the ancient religious concept of sin lost its sway over the moral imagination?

The Seven Deadly Sins Sampler, a collection of short stories, allows readers to peer into the hidden recesses of sinful thought and behavior. Without moralizing, the authors in this book-William Faulkner, Raymond Carver, Flannery O'Connor, and Margaret Atwood, to name a few-use fiction to explore our all too human thirst for transgressive pleasure.

For readers who know that good and evil isn't simply a matter of black and white, this collection will provoke lively conversation and sober contemplation. Both titles come with discussion questions for book groups and courses, as well as forewords by Al Gini, which deepens understanding of the seven deadly sins and their place in popular culture today.