Philip Zaleski is the author and editor of several books on religion and spirituality, including The Recollected Heart, The Benedictines of Petersham, and Gifts of the Spirit. In addition, he is coauthor with his wife Carol Zaleski of The Book of Heaven and Prayer: A History. Zaleski is also the editor of the acclaimed Best Spiritual Writing series. His essays and reviews on religion, culture, and the arts appear regularly in national periodicals including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and First Things. Zaleski was for many years a book critic for the Boston Phoenix, and later worked as executive editor and senior editor at Parabola Magazine, where he contributed frequent essays on Christianity and other world religions. During this period he also published a pioneering essay on Vladimir Nabokov's lepidoptery, which won him the David McCord Essay Prize. In 1999, Zaleski compiled, under the auspices of HarperCollins Publishers, a list of the 100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century. Zaleski has taught religion, literature, film, and creative writing at Wesleyan University, Smith College, and Tufts University.