The Book of Buechner: A Journey through his Writings

by Dale Brown

Overview

The most thorough and extensive investigation ever written on the much-beloved writer, The Book of Buechner explores the ways in which Frederick Buechner's writing, particularly his fiction, presents the possibilities of grace in the midst of the ambiguities of human existence and introduces themes of Christian faith. Both long-time readers and neophytes seeking a guide through his writings will delight in the illuminating analysis Dale Brown has to offer. Intelligent and gratifying, The Book of Buechner is a much overdue literary journey through one of the most significant American writers of the last fifty years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780664231132
Publisher:	Presbyterian Pub Corp
Publication date:	01/28/2007
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dale Brown is Professor of English and Director of the Buechner Institute at King College in Bristol, Tennessee. He is a specialist in American literature and the author of On Faith and Fiction and The Book of Buechner: A Journey Through His Writings.

Editorial Reviews

Frederick Buechner's (b. 1926) published novels, sermons, essays, and portraits of biblical characters have long been most appreciated by readers of Christian literature and theological writings. His meaty novels in particular, which use Christian faith as leitmotif, pay deep attention to the ambiguities of human existence. Brown (English, Calvin Coll.) presents literary analyses of Buechner's writings, particularly his fiction, and explores various aspects of his career and work. He organizes the book into 11 chapters, each dealing with one of Buechner's published works, e.g., A Long Day's Dying, the Leo Bebb tetralogy, and Godric. Brown considers Buechner one of the most important voices in the last 50 years of American literature and among the foremost of those novelists writing seriously about issues of faith; he is critical of throwaway popular Christian fiction full of simplistic morality tales. A bibliography ends each chapter, and a general bibliography ends the book; there is also a useful annotated chronology. This solid and thorough work is recommended for larger public and academic libraries and all collections specializing in Christian literature; highly recommended.
—Ali Houissa

Library Journal