Gambling ─ Mapping the American Moral Landscape

Wolfe and Owens (political science and religion, Boston College) assemble 16 essays by a group of American scholars of public policy, economics, sociology, criminology, law, governance, history, political science, psychiatry, theology, and other fields who consider gambling within the contexts of American politics, society, family, morality, religion, and culture. They discuss such topics as the Jewish interest in gambling, the lack of an antigambling movement, tribal casinos, state lotteries to fund education, internet gambling, effects on families, brain responses, the history of prohibition, and the regulation of gambling vs. the regulation of tobacco. Early versions of essays were presented at a conference, "Gambling and the American Moral Landscape," at Boston College in October 2007. Distributed in the US by Hopkins Fulfillment Services. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Alan Wolfe is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, Boston College. A prolific and esteemed writer and speaker, Wolfe's books includeThe Future of Liberalism; Does American Democracy Still Work?; and Return to Greatness: How America Lost Its Sense of Purpose and What it Needs to Do to Recover It. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Erik C. Owens is Assistant Director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theology, Boston College. He lives in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.