The Autobiography of G. K. Chesterton, by G. K. Chesterton.
This was the last book Chesterton ever wrote; it was
completed just a few weeks before his death. It tells the story of his life in
his inimitable way: it begins with the image of a king bearing a golden key
over a bridge to rescue a princess. It is his earliest memory, from a toy
theater his father made. He goes on to tell of his life in anecdotes like
flashes of fire: his extraordinary friends at school, his training at the Slade
Art Academy, his dark night of the soul; his wooing and winning of Frances
Blogg, the inspiration of his life, the woman who turned him to orthodoxy; his
amazing associations with George Bernard Shaw, Hilaire Belloc, H. G. Wells, and
James Barrie, among other literary luminaries, and his conversion to the
Catholic church. I was so happy to find this original copy at the old
Half-Price in San Antonio, and so plunged into horror and near-despair when I
woke up one day to discover the spine was almost destroyed, eaten by roaches in
the dark last days at Loop Drive. Illustrated by photos and reproductions of artwork,
including some of his own drawings.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Autobiography. Literature. Hardback.
G. K. Chesterton: Radical Populist, by Margaret Canovan.
(1977)
When I began to really get into Chesterton, this was one of
the first books I read about him in the college library; I was overjoyed to
find a copy soon afterwards at a used bookstore. Focusing on his political
thought, especially on Distributism, it describes the influence of his theories
through the decades up to the ‘Small is Beautiful’ movement. I was glad to find
a third way between what I saw as the monolithic Conservatism and crazy
Liberalism of the 80’s. ““The whole modern world has divided itself into
Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making
mistakes. The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being
corrected.” “Now, I have not lost my ideals in the least; my faith in
fundamentals is exactly what it always was. What I have lost is my old
childlike faith in practical politics. I am still as much concerned as ever
about the Battle of Armageddon; but I am not so much concerned about the
General Election. As a babe I leapt up on my mother's knee at the mere mention
of it. No; the vision is always solid and reliable. The vision is always a
fact. It is the reality that is often a fraud. As much as I ever did, more
than I ever did, I believe in Liberalism. But there was a rosy time of
innocence when I believed in Liberals.”
Ranking: Keeper.
File Code: Politics. Distributism. Hardback.
Eugenics and Other Evils, by G. K. Chesterton.
“An Argument Against the Scientifically Organized Society”.
With Additional Articles by his Eugenic and Birth Control Opponents. Edited by
Michael W. Perry. Chesterton’s analysis of and opposition to the Eugenics (Good
Birth) movement that was the poisonous root that lead to both the Nazi death
camps and to Planned Parenthood, and their founders’ goal to eliminate
“inferior” human beings. As relevant today as when it was written.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Sociology. Softcover.
A Chesterton Anthology, Selected and with an Introduction by
P. J. Kavanagh
An Ignatius Book. A hearty Thanksgiving plate of his work,
with choice pieces of all kinds and a complete serving of “The Man Who Was
Thursday”. A wonderful introduction to his work and a carry-all sampler if
going on a trip.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Anthology. Softcover.
The Coloured Lands, by G. K. Chesterton.
“This jolly medley of drawings, fables, and poetry—all laced
with satirical wit—abounds in G. K. Chesterton's unique combination of whimsy
and profundity. Its satirical ballads and original fairy tales include early
works and previously unpublished material, all illustrated by the author's
distinctive color and black-and-white illustrations. Chesterton's fantasies
reflect his overall philosophy of life, proclaiming the need for wonder in the
face of the world of fact.” -Google Books. This is an original edition and
bears an inscription of 1939. I passed over it for years at Yesterday’s
Warehouse (I can picture its position on the shelves even now) and when I
suddenly realized how much I wanted Chesterton books I hastened to the store in
fear that it would be gone, and breathed a sigh of relief when it was safe in
my clutches. I wonder, if I could travel back in time and look over the place
again, what I might find with a more experienced eye?
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Fantasy. Humor. Hardback.
The Complete Father Brown, by G. K. Chesterton.
A Penguin edition rendered somewhat incomplete by several
later quibbling discoveries (such as collaborations to which GKC loaned his amateur
sleuth). There was a big brown volume like unto this at high school, that I never
once cracked, although in class we did read “The Invisible Man” (his version,
not Wells’, in which a man is invisible because he is too common a sight to be
seen). I also caught a few episodes of Father Brown on Mystery! (the first series,
more faithful to the originals, and not the Mark Williams version we have
today). Lots of people come to Chesterton through Father Brown; with me it was
almost the other way around, a topsy-turvydom I’m sure GK would appreciate. “Father
Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short
stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English novelist G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries
and crimes using his intuition and keen understanding of human nature. Chesterton loosely based him
on the
Rt Rev. Msgr. John
O'Connor (1870–1952),
a parish
priest in Bradford, who was involved in Chesterton's
conversion to Catholicism in 1922.” – Wikipedia.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Detective Stories. Collected. Softcover.
The Annotated Innocence of Father Brown, by G. K. Chesterton.
Edited by Martin Gardner.
A Dover Book. The first published volume of stories featuring
the amateur detective, including his introduction, “The Blue Cross”. While
highly illuminating when referencing facts and historical details, I am not
sure that the atheistic Gardner is the most congenial person to be our cicerone
through these tales, as he is not shy about sharing his own philosophical
opinions. Includes illustrations from the first edition.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Annotated Edition. Detective Stories. Softcover.
The Napoleon of Notting Hill, by G. K. Chesterton.
Illustrated by W. Graham Robertson.
“With a New Introduction by Martin Gardner”. Chesterton’s
classic tale of local patriotism, “although the novel is set in the future, it
is, in effect, set in an alternative reality of Chesterton's own period, with no advances in technology or
changes in the class system or attitudes. It postulates an impersonal
government, not described in any detail, but apparently content to operate
through a figurehead king, randomly chosen. The dreary succession of randomly
selected Kings
of England is
broken up when Auberon Quin, who cares for nothing but a good joke, is chosen.
To amuse himself, he institutes elaborate costumes for the provosts of the
districts of London. All are bored by the King's antics except for one earnest
young man who takes the cry for regional pride seriously.” – Wikipedia. This
book, which I read in college, had a deep effect on me. Its cry for smaller,
more personal administration instead of areas being swallowed up by faceless
uncaring institutions of any political stripe spoke to something in my soul.
The idea that the love and knowledge of one’s home could trump the thoughtless
generalities of those who wish to merely subsume it was an idea, quixotic as it
is, that stirs the imagination. In these times of the villainous parody of
CHAZ/CHOP, with its merely political aim, it is a reminder of what a real love
for home is … and what an overwhelming master it can become if it is put into a
seat of power. Dover.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Speculative Fiction. Political Satire. Softcover.
The Ball and the Cross, by G. K. Chesterton.
“The Ball and the Cross is a novel by G. K. Chesterton. The title refers to a more worldly
and rationalist worldview, represented by a ball or sphere, and the cross
representing Christianity. The novel's beginning involves
debates about rationalism and religion between a Professor Lucifer and a monk
named Michael. Much of the rest of the book concerns the dueling,
figurative and somewhat more literal, of a Jacobite Catholic named Maclan and an atheist Socialist named Turnbull. Lynette
Hunter has argued that the novel is more sympathetic to Maclan, but does
indicate Maclan is also presented as in some ways too extreme. Turnbull,
as well, is presented in a sympathetic light: both duelists are ready to fight
for and die for their antagonistic opinions and, in doing so, develop a certain
partnership that evolves into a friendship. The real antagonist is the world
outside, which desperately tries to prevent from happening a duel over
"mere religion" (a subject both duelists judge of utmost importance).”
– Wikipedia. Another of the great visionary novels. I read it in college, and
it (along with ‘Manalive’ and ‘The Man Who Was Thursday’) inspired me to
contemplate a similar style of novel, kicked off by the protagonist’s vision of
his deceased uncle – a Chesterton expy – balancing merrily along a high roof,
like the roof of St. Paul’s in this book. A Dover book.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Novel. Religion. Softcover.
Four Faultless Felons; The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond, by G. K.
Chesterton.
Both are Dover books, both “With a New Introduction by Martin
Gardner.” ‘Felons’ has the stories of four men who are seen by the world as
criminals, but whose exploits paradoxically have been for virtuous reasons that
they cannot reveal. ‘Paradoxes’ is linked by the figure of Mr. Pond, who is
‘fond of making casual remarks that seem to be logical contradictions.’
Included is the great “When Doctors Agree”; because two doctors are finally
philosophically of the same opinion, one must murder the other.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Connected Short Story Collections. Softcover.
Manalive, by G. K. Chesterton.
Another great – perhaps the greatest – of Chesterton’s
visionary novels. When the exuberant Innocent Smith comes to the Beacon House
boarding rooms, he stirs the sluggish inhabitants into a new life of whimsy and
romance, a life that is more vital and realistic than the routine ‘rational’
ruts they have fallen into. It is only when he fires shots at a visiting doctor
and is ready to run off with one of the tenants’ paid companions that the
residents become alarmed. Convening a session of the “High Court of Beacon”,
the crimes of which he is charged with are examined and the surprising truth
behind them are revealed. ““I am going to hold a pistol to the head of the
Modern Man. But I shall not use it to kill him–only to bring him to life.” ““If
Innocent is happy, it is because he is innocent. If he can defy the
conventions, it is just because he can keep the commandments. It is just
because he does not want to kill but to excite to life that a pistol is still
as exciting to him as it is to a schoolboy. It is just because he does not want
to steal, because he does not covet his neighbour's goods, that he has captured
the trick (oh, how we all long for it!), the trick of coveting his own goods.
It is just because he does not want to commit adultery that he achieves the
romance of sex; it is just because he loves one wife that he has a hundred
honeymoons.” Has been adapted into a film by EWTN that I wouldn’t mind seeing.
Read this book and be joyful. Dover.
Ranking: ESSENTIAL. VERY.
File Code: Novel. Softcover.
The Flying Inn, by G. K. Chesterton.
“A novel by G. K. Chesterton, first published in 1914. It is set
in a future England where the temperance
movement has
allowed a bizarre form of "Progressive" Islam to dominate the
political and social life of the country. Because of this, alcohol sales to the
poor are effectively prohibited, while the rich can get alcoholic drinks
"under a medical certificate". The plot centres on the adventures of
Humphrey Pumph and Captain Patrick Dalroy, who roam the country in their cart
with a barrel of rum in an attempt to evade Prohibition, exploiting loopholes
in the law to temporarily prevent the police taking action against them.
Eventually the heroes and their followers foil an attempted coup by an Islamic
military force.” – Wikipedia. In some ways Chesterton’s least satisfying novel,
but almost prophetic in its portrayal of an Islamic ‘invasion’ trying to take
over Great Britain. Full of famous poems, later gathered into “Wine, Water, and
Song”. Dover.
Ranking: Merely Essential.
File Code: Satire. Speculative Fiction. Softcover.
The Poet and the Lunatics, by G. K. Chesterton.
“In The Poet and the Lunatics, an eccentric poet
acts as spiritual detective in eight thought-provoking tales. Gabriel Gale
employs his extraordinary gifts of empathy to solve and prevent crimes
perpetrated by madmen. His philosophical police-work forms the basis for
captivating explorations of poetry, insanity, and sin — all expressed in the
author’s characteristic paradoxes and soaring flights of rhetoric.” – The
Chesterton Society. Most impressive to me is the story “The Sin of Gabriel
Gale” where the poet pins a man to a tree during a thunderstorm for a special
reason. Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Short Stories. Metaphysical Detection. Softcover.
The Annotated Thursday: G. K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece ‘The
Man Who Was Thursday’, Annotated by Martin Gardner.
Ignatius Press. Not only annotated but illustrated by
contemporary pictures. The greatest and most well-known of Chesterton’s works,
lauded by Orson Welles, Kingsley Amis, Jorge Luis Borges, and Neil Gaiman. “In Edwardian era London, Gabriel Syme is
recruited at Scotland
Yard to a
secret anti-anarchist police corps. Lucian Gregory,
an anarchistic poet, lives in the suburb of Saffron Park. Syme meets him at a party
and they debate the meaning of poetry. Gregory argues that revolt is the basis
of poetry. Syme demurs, insisting the essence of poetry is not revolution but
law. He antagonises Gregory by asserting that the most poetical of human
creations is the timetable for the London
Underground. He
suggests Gregory isn't really serious about anarchism, which so irritates
Gregory that he takes Syme to an underground anarchist meeting place, under
oath not to disclose its existence to anyone, revealing his public endorsement
of anarchy is a ruse to make him seem harmless, when in fact he is an
influential member of the local chapter of the European anarchist council. The
central council consists of seven men, each using the name of a day of the week
as a cover; the position of Thursday is about to be elected by Gregory's local
chapter. Gregory expects to win the election but just before, Syme reveals to
Gregory after an oath of secrecy that he is a secret policeman. In order to
make Syme think that the anarchists are harmless after all, Gregory speaks very
unconvincingly to the local chapter, so that they feel that he is not zealous
enough for the job. Syme makes a rousing anarchist speech in which he denounces
everything that Gregory has said and wins the vote. He is sent immediately as
the chapter's delegate to the central council. In his efforts to thwart the
council, Syme eventually discovers that five other members are also undercover
detectives; each was employed just as mysteriously and assigned to defeat the
Council. They soon find out they were fighting each other and not real
anarchists; such was the mastermind plan of their president, Sunday. In a
surreal conclusion, Sunday is unmasked as only seeming to be terrible; in fact,
he is a force of good like the detectives. Sunday is unable to give an answer
to the question of why he caused so much trouble and pain for the detectives.
Gregory, the only real anarchist, seems to challenge the good council. His
accusation is that they, as rulers, have never suffered like Gregory and their
other subjects and so their power is illegitimate. Syme refutes the accusation
immediately, because of the terrors inflicted by Sunday on the rest of the
council. The dream ends when Sunday is asked if he has ever suffered. His last
words, "Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of?", is the question
Jesus asks St. James and St. John.” – Wikipedia. Written before Chesterton’s
conversion, it is nevertheless a paean to the great good secret hidden behind
the enigmatic mask of Creation. I must note that Gardner failed to identify the
picture by Chesterton on the cover (which he thought illustrated the Council of
Days and the anarchist Lucian Gregory) as originally illustrating the poem
“History of the Husbands of Rhoda”. (Sings tauntingly – “I’m smarter than
you-oo! At least on this point.)
Ranking: Oh, So Essential.
File Code: Annotated. Novel. Softcover.
In Defense of Sanity: The Best Essays of G. K. Chesterton.
Selected by Dale Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, and Aidan Mackey
An Ignatius book. “G.K. Chesterton was a master essayist. But
reading his essays is not just an exercise in studying a literary form at its
finest, it is an encounter with timeless truths that jump off the page as fresh
and powerful as the day they were written. The only problem with Chesterton's
essays is that there are too many of them. Over five thousand! For most GKC
readers it is not even possible to know where to start or how to begin to
approach them. So three of the world's leading authorities on Chesterton - Dale
Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, Aidan Mackey - have joined together to select the
"best" Chesterton essays, a collection that will be appreciated by
both the newcomer and the seasoned student of this great 20th century man of
letters. The variety of topics is astounding: barbarians, architects,
mystics, ghosts, fireworks, rain, juries, gargoyles and much more. Plus a look
at Shakespeare, Dickens, Jane Austen, George MacDonald, T.S. Eliot, and the
Bible. All in that inimitable, formidable but always quotable style of GKC.
Even more astounding than the variety is the continuity of Chesterton's thought
that ties everything together. A veritable feast for the mind and heart. While
some of the essays in this volume may be familiar, many of them are collected
here for the first time, making their first appearance in over a century.” –
Google Books.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Collected Essays. Softcover.
Lepanto, by G. K. Chesterton. With Explanatory Notes and
Commentary Edited by Dale Ahlquist.
An Ignatius book. Some illustrations. Chesterton’s most
famous poem, “celebrating the victory of the Holy
League in
the Battle
of Lepanto. The poem
tells of the defeat of the Ottoman fleet of Ali
Pasha by the
Christian crusader, Don
John of Austria … "Lepanto"
was published in 1911, and is in line with the author's other works of early
decades of the century as representing a spirited rejection of the fin de siècle Decadent Fatalism which was the dominating
philosophy in his youth. As in the author's "The Ballad of the White Horse," the non-Christian forces are made representative of
the determinist or fatalist philosophy that (in
Chesterton's view) denied the value of human struggle and free will, and which he variously personified
as pagan or Germanic or Mohammedan or Calvinist (as in this poem). In
"Lepanto," it is ironically Mahound himself, not Don John or
Cervantes, who makes the clearest assessment of his Christian enemy's
motivation and values: "It is he that saith not 'Kismet'; it is he that
knows not Fate".” – Wikipedia. Includes assessments of the battle, a history
of the composition of the poem, and several essays by Chesterton relating to
Don John and the battle.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Poetry. History. Softcover.
G. K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense; The Complete
Thinker: The Marvelous Mind of G. K. Chesterton; Common Sense 101: Lessons from
G. K. Chesterton, by Dale Ahlquist.
Ahlquist, the president of the American Chesterton Society
and host of the show about Chesterton on EWTN, provides these summations of the
work and thought of G. K. Chesterton. All three are attempts to sum up what
Chesterton had to say; all three are Ignatius books. ‘Common Sense 101’ has
some previous owner’s highlighting.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Theology. Philosophy. Softcovers.
The Works of G. K. Chesterton, by G. K. Chesterton.
A Wordsworth Poetry Library edition. The collected poetical
works, it should say, and a handy volume at that. There was a store (was it in
San Marcos or San Antonio? I lean towards San Antonio) that had many volumes of
these inexpensive Wordsworth books.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Poetry. Collected Works. Softcover.
Charles Dickens, by G. K. Chesterton.
Wordsworth Literary Lives. Although Chesterton is perhaps
lacking some more recently discovered resources, even Peter Ackroyd (author of
the monumental ‘Dickens’) proclaims him as ‘Dickens best critic’. T. S. Eliot
thought so too. “Chesterton is so good on Dickens because his wit is as sharp
as that of the Great Inimitable himself. No one surpasses him in catching
and conveying the sense of wonder that is Dickens, and his contagious
enthusiasm will be sure to send the reader to the books with more alertness and
keener appreciation.” – From the back cover.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Biography. Literature. Softcover.
Thirteen Detectives: Classic Mystery Stories by the Creator
of Father Brown, by G. K. Chesterton. Selected and Arranged by Marie Smith.
A Penguin Classic Crime Book. “Collects Chesterton's
mysteries featuring sleuths other than Father Brown but features as well one previously
uncollected Father Brown story, "Father Brown and the Donnington
Affair" – Fantasticfiction.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Mysteries. Softcover.
The Defendant, by G. K. Chesterton. Edited by Dale Ahlquist.
“The earliest collection of the prolific author’s essays,
this edition features an eloquent introductory essay by Dale Ahlquist,
president of the American Chesterton Society.” – from the cover. Back when he
was known as ‘The Omniscient Babe’ and before his conversion, Chesterton was already
defending such articles outlawed by society as Penny Dreadfuls, Skeletons,
Nonsense, Ugly Things, Slang, Farce, and Detective Stories. “Vulgar people are
never mad. I’m vulgar myself, and I know.” -The Man Who Was Thursday. It is the
over-refined thinkers who go off the rails. A Dover edition.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Essays. Softcover.
The Soul of Wit: G. K. Chesterton on William Shakespeare.
Edited and with an Introduction by Dale Ahlquist.
Chesterton never wrote a complete book on Shakespeare as he did
on Dickens or Browning, but this Dover book collects everything he did say into
one handy volume. In these reviews and essays, GK comes close to divining
(without ever stating) a critical theory that has recently gathered a lot of
momentum, that the famous playwright might have actually been a secret
Catholic.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Essays. Literature. Softcover.
Selected Essays, by G. K. Chesterton. Selected by Dorothy
Collins, With an Introduction by E. C. Bentley.
This Classic Library edition, printed in Mumbai, India, may
indeed be Complete and Unabridged, but it is riddled with printing errors that
are my delight to decipher and correct. This handy, durable little book
includes a ribbon marker, and has been a delightful browser of a vade mecum; I
recall reading it several times as I had breakfast and waited to begin the
workday at Whataburger. Collins was his literary executor and Bentley one of
his best friends.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Essays. Hardback.
The Universe According to G. K. Chesterton: A Dictionary of
the Mad, Mundane and Metaphysical, Edited by Dale Ahlquist (Dover); The
Quotable Chesterton: The Wit and Wisdom of G. K. Chesterton, Edited by Kevin
Belmonte; The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips & Cracks
from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton, Edited by Dave Armstrong.
Three books of quotations from the most eminently quotable
man. ‘Universe’ is in the form of a Dictionary, “Wisdom’ are straightforward quotations.
‘Quotable’, besides having the worst caricature of Chesterton I have ever seen
on the cover, includes short essays between the quotes on aspects of
Chesterton’s life, career, and enthusiasms.
Ranking: Essential Keepers.
Orthodoxy; and Saint Thomas Aquinas: “The Dumb Ox”, by G. K.
Chesterton.
Both are Image books, and I suppose are dispensable now that
I have them in Ignatius Press editions, but they are in such handy sizes and
would make good loaners if the occasion ever arose. ‘Orthodoxy’ was written
before his conversion; in its pages GK upholds the romance of things going
right, the correctness of ordinary things as opposed to the wry reaction of
rebellion, the heresy of thought that is the mere nausea of a sick mind to
healthy commonplaces. It was largely Chesterton’s portrayal in ‘Aquinas’ of the
fat, humble smarty-pants that led me to choose him as my patron saint.
Ranking: D…D…Dispensable, I guess.
File Code: Religion. Biography. Softcovers.
The Tumbler of God: Chesterton as Mystic, by Robert Wild.
I can’t say as I’ve read this book yet. “We need a new kind
of mystic," writes Fr. Robert Wild; and in The Tumbler of God,
he presents a spiritual portrait of G.K. Chesterton that convincingly shows why
he is precisely the new kind of mystic we need. Chesterton's mysticism was
grounded in an experiential knowledge that existence is a gift from God, and
that the only response is a spirituality of gratitude and praise for the
unveiled beauty of creation. Franz Kafka said of Chesterton, "He is so
happy one might almost think he had discovered God." And Fr. Wild adds
that "indeed he had, and he was doing his best to live in the light of
that discovery. What was his 'secret'? It was to love the splendor of the real,
and to live in adulthood the innocence and wonder of the child who sees
everything for the first time. The Gospel tells us we must become again like
little children in order to enter the kingdom. Chesterton shows us how." –
Amazon.
Ranking: To Be Read.
File Code: Religion. Mysticism. Softcover.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, by Maisie Ward.
“Maisie Ward's biography of Gilbert Keith Chesterton has long
been a cornerstone in Chesterton studies, as well as in the publishing house
she and her husband, Frank Sheed, founded in 1926. Originally published in
1942, just six years after Chesterton's untimely death, this book combines
Ward's unique perspective as the author's friend and publisher with an
examination of his personal correspondence and interviews with his closest
friends and family. Here are Chesterton's childhood and school days, the
friendship and foolery of youth, his early theological development, high
spirited love letters, the variety and richness of his travel and life abroad,
his lectures, his writings, and his indominable spirit.” – Amazon. My copy is
an original edition, bought at Yesterday’s Warehouse, and I was reading it
(new-bought) when I accompanied Mom and Pop on a winter’s visit to Kirby and
Aunt Margaret’s for one of their Saturday poker nights (they needed me to get
Mom up the steps). I had also recently watched “Guns for San Sebastian” and
that is probably why I linked them together in my growing examination of the
Catholic faith. Photos and illustrations.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Biography. Hardback.
Collected Nonsense and Light Verse, by G. K. Chesterton. With
Illustrations by the Author. With an Introduction by Marie Smith.
Should be made dispensable by the ‘Collected Works’ but the
collection and application of Chesterton’s cartoon-like artwork lifts it into a
category all its own. Now, this I am sure I found in a bookstore in the mall on
the outskirts of San Marcos. And if I didn’t, it doesn’t matter.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Poetry. Humor. Hardback.
Gilbert: The Man Who Was Chesterton, by Michael Coren.
A much more, shall we say, secular look at the life of
Chesterton, and seems to put an emphasis on his health and his weight more than
some other biographies do. Coren has apparently produced books about Lewis,
Tolkien, Wells, and Doyle as well. Illustrated with photos and drawings, some
of which I have not seen elsewhere.
Ranking: Keeper.
File Code: Biography. Softcover.
Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G. K. Chesterton, by Joseph
Pearce.
The best biography of Chesterton yet, in my opinion,
addressing both the facts and the fancy in an eminently readable style. “Through
years of meticulous research and access to the literary estate of G.K.
Chesterton, Joseph Pearce presents a major biography of a 20th century literary
giant, providing a great deal of important information on GKC never before
published. This is a thoroughly readable and delightful biography of a
multi-faceted author, artist and debater who loved the friendship of children,
idolized his wife and enjoyed great friendships with the likes of Hilaire
Belloc, Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells.” – Amazon. Pearce’s weaving of fact is
masterful and tight but never stiff; his sympathy with GK’s point of view
(which went far to reform his own) gives him a deep imaginative understanding
of the man.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Biography. Hardback.
The Art of G. K. Chesterton, Selected and Edited by Alzina
Stone Dale.
Part biography, part history, but mostly a gallery of the
work of G. K. Chesterton’s fancy. It reminds me that for a while he had a
parallel career as an illustrator of novels. From sketches and cartoons to full
color reproductions to jeu d’esprit tossed off in moments of fancy, this is a
rare look at the famous author’s second string to his bow. “Alzina Stone Dale
is a freelance author/lecturer who has written biographies of Dorothy L.
Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, and T.S. Eliot and edited Love All: The
Comedies of Dorothy L. Sayers, Dorothy L. Sayers, the Centenary
Celebration, and Sayers on Holmes. Dale also co-authored
mystery travel guides to London and England, and wrote mystery travel guides to
New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago, two of which have won Malice Domestics’
Agatha Awards and been nominated for an Anthony. Dale is a member of the
Authors Guild, Sayers Society, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and
the Society of Midland Authors.” – alzinastonedale.com. Still alive at the time
of this writing, apparently.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Collected Art. Biography. Hardback.
No comments:
Post a Comment