“john portmann”

What does it take to get into heaven? If you're Roman Catholic, Portmann argues, the red-hot issue is sex. Since the late 1980s, the Vatican has made great efforts to encourage Jews to celebrate their faith, yet continues to reject homosexual Catholics. Portmann, himself a Catholic, finds it strikin... More

In this book, Portmann argues that especially since 9/11, the reality of sin has made a strong comeback. Even liberal Christians such as Bishop Sprong have to take the pervasiveness of personal evil doing seriously. The book starts off in the present and then loops back into the past to outline the ... More

Why do people do things that are blatantly bad for them? Think of the falls from grace of Richard Nixon, Gary Hart, Rob Lowe, Martha Stewart, and Kobe Bryant. Portmann argues that we are often our own worst enemies, and that the hardest kind of suffering to bear is what we inflict upon ourselves. Th... More

Intriguing, and occasionally unsettling, "In Defense of Sin"is a refreshingly frank exploration of some real facts of life. Portmann gathers an on-target collection of great writers on transgressions large and small. Read about defenses for promiscuity, greed, deceit, gossip, lust, breaking the gold... More

"Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies, " Gore Vidal once observed. It's funny, it's terrible, and it's true. In this provocative and groundbreaking book, Portmann explores this all-too-human foible--what the Germans call "Schadenfreude."Although many of us deny it, it is not unc... More