Tom Bissell

Tom Bissell will read from his latest, Apostle: Travels Among the Tombs of the Twelve, a journey into the heart of Christianity. The widely acclaimed author of”The Disaster Artist” explores the mysterious and often paradoxical lives and legacies of the Twelve Apostles a book both for those of the Christian faith and those who want to understand it from the outside in.

Peter, Matthew, Thomas, John: Who were these men? What was their relationship to Jesus? Tom Bissell gives us rich and deeply informed answers to these ancient and surprisingly elusive questions. He examines not just who these men were (and weren’t), but how their identities have taken shape over the course of two millennia. He makes clear that, ultimately, their story is the story of Christianity and its growth from an obscure Jewish sect to the global faith we know today. Bissell has visited holy sites from Rome and Jerusalem to Turkey, India, and Kyrgyzstan, and he vividly captures the rich diversity of Christianity’s global reach. Written with warmth, humor, and rare acumen, Apostle is a brilliant synthesis of travel writing, biblical history, and a deep lifelong relationship with Christianity. The result is an unusual, erudite, at times hilarious book a religious, intellectual, and personal adventure.

Tom Bissell was born in Escanaba, Michigan, in 1974. He has lived in New York City, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Italy, Las Vegas, Estonia, Portland, and currently lives in Los Angeles. In 2006 he was awarded the Rome Prize, and in 2010 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has also done scriptwriting for several popular video-game franchises, including Gears of War, Battlefield, and Uncharted.