CATHLEEN FALSANI -- THE GOD FACTOR: INSIDE THE SPIRITUAL LIVES OF PUBLIC PEOPLE

Does God exist, and if so what's He like? What can we learn from the world's religious traditions? What can atheism or agnosticism teach us? And what would John Mahoney do? These are all profound questions (really!). Chicago Sun-Times religion writer Cathleen Falsani has been posing big questions to big names -- the Rev. Al Sharpton, Anne Rice, Elie Wiesel -- and has collected her conversations in The God Factor, a book filled with insights profound, silly or both. Radio host Mancow Muller tells her Jesus would enjoy a dirty joke: "He hung out with fishermen. You ever hung out with sailors? Do they have dirty mouths?" Attorney Barry Scheck explains how good people do bad things: "I see people all the time who, by any definition, describe themselves as good ... and almost because of their self-righteous belief that anything they do is good, they do evil." Falsani shows no partiality; she neither judges nor condemns. She probes at labels her subjects give themselves like "Muslim" or "Secular humanist" (or, in one memorable case, "Buddhalupist") to discover hidden layers of experience. Such charitable, deep questioning is rare in a celebrity-addled culture. Many of the people in this book, in becoming celebrities, have become stereotypes, one-dimensional characters we think we know -- Hugh Hefner the Playboy, David Lynch the Scary Director, Melissa Etheridge the Lesbian Singer. In The God Factor, they are allowed to be human beings again. And living life as a human being -- isn't that what those big questions are about? (Angela Pancella) Grade: A